Planning Commission punts on VRD moratorium
Published 12:15 pm Wednesday, January 5, 2022
- Christopher Rose, Kathy Kleczek, Robin Montero, Seth Morrisey, Brandon Kraft and Jon Wickersham at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting.
The City Council will take the lead in a potential vacation rental dwelling moratorium.
At the end of Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting, Kleczek moved that the commission make a formal recommendation to the city council to declare a moratorium on new conditional use permits for VRDs.
In discussion, commission members say it is the council, not the commission’s, job to take the lead in shaping the ordinance.
Seth Morrisey, a commission member and former city councilor, said the decision to declare a moratorium should come from the council, not the commission. “They’re more of the political body,” he said. “I feel that it would be more appropriate if they actually initiated this, if that’s what they want to do.”
Last month the Seaside Planning Commission and City Council met in a joint workshop on vacation rental dwellings. Topics included a potential moratorium on vacation rental conditional use permits, designed to give the council time to study the impact of vacation rental dwellings on affordable housing and city infrastructure.
The motion was based on previous discussion in the past meeting, Kleczek said. “It is basically officially putting the ball in their court,” Kleczek said. “Since we can’t actually create a moratorium as that’s the city council’s job, I wanted to officially say, ‘Here you go. We want you to do this.’”
She found herself without a second to her motion, leaving action in the hands of the City Council, which meets Monday.
Jon Wickersham, a planning commissioner, said he sought “a little bit more information about why we’re making a recommendation and maybe a little more structure around that recommendation.”
During the meeting, the Planning Commission issued conditional use permits for two properties in Seaside, at 420 13th Ave. and at 450 14th Ave. Both projects met zone requirements and density limits as set by the city.
A hearing on the Vista Ridge II development in Sunset Hills was issued a continuance until the next commission meeting at the request of the owner, Sunset Ridge LLC.
