County OKs new regs for vacation rentals

Vacation rentals in zoned areas of Flathead County now must abide by new regulations approved Monday by the county commissioners.

Commissioners Gary Krueger and Pam Holmquist voted in favor of a zoning text amendment that sets performance standards for short-term rental housing. Property owners who rent their homes via online marketplaces such as VRBO or Airbnb will be required to get an administrative conditional-use permit from the county Planning Office.

Commissioner Phil Mitchell voted against the resolution, saying he wants more “sideboards put on for neighbors,” including a minimum three-night stay, off-street parking and minimum of two people per bedroom.

Until now, renting a dwelling for less than 30 days has been an illegal use in zoned areas of the county. Nevertheless, hundreds of rentals have operated illegally.

The new performance standards require the name and phone number of a local contact person or management company be provided with the administrative conditional-use application. This contact person must be available around the clock and be able to arrive at the vacation rental property within one hour if there is a complaint or emergency situation.

That contact information also will be sent via certified mail to property owners within 150 feet of the rental property.

If there is a change of ownership in a rental property, the new owner will be required to apply for an administrative conditional-use permit in their name.

The permit for a vacation rental can be suspended or revoked if any of the standards are not met, according to the resolution.

Planning Director Mark Mussman said the latest public-comment period held after the commissioners OK’d a resolution of intent in June to adopt the zoning text amendment yielded no public comments, though one person sent comments after the deadline.

“There is no apparent widespread opposition to this resolution,” Mussman told the commissioners.

Four residents of Rest Haven Drive along the east shore of Whitefish Lake talked to the commissioners during the public-comment session that preceded Monday’s vote, asking them to reconsider the resolution. They said they’d rather have the county retain the minimum 30-day stay for vacation rentals, citing past intrusion from a vacation rental in their neighborhood that yielded noise at all hours and trash left on the small community beach.

“With this new resolution you’ve taken away our right to tell them to be quiet,” Blair LaGrandeur said. “Why my neighborhood has to be turned into Disneyland, I don’t understand that.”

“We feel like we’re living next to a hotel,” said George Losleben, another Rest Haven resident.

Mitchell wondered how the new regulations will affect subdivision homeowner associations that don’t allow short-term rentals.

Mussman said the county is not a party to private homeowner association covenants.

“The applicant is responsible for reviewing the covenants and they can proceed accordingly,” Mussman said, noting he’s heard from a couple of associations that have amended their covenants to disallow short-term rentals. “It’s entirely up to their [the permit applicants’] discretion if they want to continue. If they do, then they face the ire of the homeowners association.”

The Northwest Montana Association of Realtors proposed the zoning text amendment as a way to protect homeowners, the property rights of neighbors and the traveling public. The association looked at short-term rental regulations for the cities of Columbia and Kalispell, as well as other places such as Gallatin County before developing its proposal.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.