Members of the Logan City Council deferred a decision on regulations governing short-term vacation rentals until April 19 to give neighborhood councils in the Adams, Bridger, Ellis, Hillcrest, Wilson and Woodruff areas of the city an opportunity to weigh in on the issue.
LOGAN – The members of the Logan City Council got an earful of public comment on the issue of local short-term rental properties at their regular meeting Tuesday, but still deferred judgment on the thorny issue until mid-April.
Community Development Director Mike DeSimone explained that Logan has about 50 such properties, which are commonly referred to as AirBNB’s or VRBO’s, within its boundaries. But the city has few regulations governing those properties.
Even before Council Chair Jeanne Simmonds opened the scheduled public hearing on the topic, council member Tom Jensen suggested that the city seek input from the neighborhood councils representing the Adams, Bridger, Ellis, Hillcrest, Wilson and Woodruff areas of the city.
“The biggest problems that we have in neighborhoods is with rentals,” Jensen observed, “particularly those with absentee landlords … So, in our thinking legally here, we need to be careful that we don’t exacerbate the problems of the neighborhoods.
“I suggest that we get input from neighborhood councils, especially Hillcrest and Woodruff. Well, from all the neighborhoods actually.”
During the public hearing, habitual council-watcher Dr. Gail Yost echoed that sentiment, saying that the number of rentals in local neighborhoods can interfere with cohesiveness and becoming acquainted with area residents.
“I think this is very important for neighborhood councils to discuss,” Yost said. “The Wilson council is meeting tomorrow and I will bring this topic to them … So I’m going to ask you to postpone this decision until the neighborhood councils can discuss it.”
Seven additional Logan residents also spoke briefly on the pros and cons of AirBNB’s and VRBO properties, with their comments being about evenly divided. They were Keegan Garrity, Kersey Hatten, Fred Rigby, Ted Mahan, Garry Hoffmann, Conner Simmons and Diane Roundy.
The original goal of the public hearing was to gather information to settle a difference of opinion between city staffers and members of the Logan Planning Commission regarding short-term rentals.
“A short-term rental,” DeSimone explained, “is also often referred as a vacation rental. (Those properties) are transient rental accommodations, typically within a single family residential dwelling – but not always.
“They are rented out for a period of time not exceeding 30 days. This short-term occupancy is viewed and regulated differently than a traditional rental …”
In a proposal to the Logan Planning Commission on Jan. 27, the city’s staff recommended a conservative approach to regulating such vacation rentals by allowing them only in high density and commercial zones of the city.
Instead, the members of the planning commission recommended vacation rentals be allowed throughout the city. Members of the planning commission took that view because they said that any negative impacts would be minimal because demand for the short-term rentals was not excessive here.
Rather than choosing one of those two options, the members of the city voted unanimously to deter any decision until their meeting on April 19.
That delay will give DeSimone time to forward information about the issue to Logan’s six neighborhood councils and for those panels to forward their collective wisdom to members of the city council.