HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole Feb 7 2023Whatcom County
Council Committee of the Whole
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
(360) 778-5010
Committee Minutes - Final
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
2:25 PM
Hybrid Meeting
HYBRID MEETING - ADJOURNS BY 4:30 P.M.; MAY BEGIN EARLY
(PARTICIPATE IN -PERSON AT 311 GRAND AVENUE SUITE 101, SEE REMOTE
JOIN INSTRUCTIONS AT www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil, OR CALL
360.778.5010) AGENDA REVISED 2.6.2023
COUNCILMEMBERS
Barry Buchanan
Tyler Byrd
Todd Donovan
Ben Elenbaas
Carol Frazey
Kaylee Galloway
Kathy Kershner
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Dana Brown -Davis, C.M.C.
Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final February 7, 2023
Call To Order
Roll Call
Committee Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 2:25 p.m.
in a hybrid meeting.
Present: 7 - Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Carol Frazey,
Kaylee Galloway, and Kathy Kershner
Absent: None
Announcements
Committee Discussion
1. AB2.023 0"79 Continuing discussion of potential code amendments to WCC Title 20 (zoning) to
regulate vacation rentals
Cliff Strong, Planning and Development Services Department, read from a
memo (on file).
Donovan stated he would go with (option one for) Exhibit A as presented in
the memo. The issue has gone from nuisance concerns to serious impacts
on housing costs. If they required a Conditional Use Permit (CPU), the cost
of that would discourage more of these long-term rentals being converted
into short-term rentals and affecting the rental markets in these areas.
Kershner spoke in favor of option two. She stated if they are forced to
adopt something because of the Shoreline Management Plan, she would like
to adopt the minimum required. She is not in favor of registries that charge
people to be a part of them, or duplicating what has already been done at the
State. She does not want to put more programs in place that County staff has
to manage and does not want to spend money on a consultant to study the
impacts of short-term rentals on our housing market.
Galloway stated she supports a short-term registration process because
there is value in collecting data on who is operating a business in our
community, it allows the County to communicate with them, and it provides
a system for a complaint process. Requiring people to prove that they are a
business is really important. She likes the idea, if they are going to charge a
registration fee, of exempting the first short-term rental or having some
sort of sliding scale. She has mixed feelings about requiring a CPU but
leans toward making it harder to do short-term rentals in the Lake Whatcom
Watershed.
Donovan responded to Galloway and Kershner's comments.
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final February 7, 2023
Byrd stated he is in favor of option two. He is not opposed to adding the
extra rules defined in the memo but his opposition is more about adding all
the enforcement and registration layers. He asked whether there are any
other business types for which we have a County registration database and
registration fees, and how we could possibly think that 800 short term
rentals would have any impact on housing prices.
Donovan moved that they recommend that the Planning and Development
Services Department (PDS) pursue Option 1 regarding Exhibit A. They
could then discuss what direction they would need for the fee schedule on
page 13 of the memo. The motion was seconded by Frazey.
Strong answered what kind of direction he would need and stated if they put
together an Ordinance, he would have it take effect six months or a year out
so that they could work through those issues and work with the vendor to
get them on board.
Donovan clarified his motion.
The motion carried by the following vote:
Aye: 4 - Buchanan, Donovan, Frazey, and Galloway
Nay: 3 - Byrd, Elenbaas, and Kershner
Councilmembers concurred they would like to see Exhibit A again and do
one more committee work session with the amendments.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED AND MOTION(S) APPROVED.
2. AB2023-116 Discussion with Whatcom County Prosecutor Eric Richey regarding District Court
Buchanan stated this item has been postponed. Judge Olsen has continued
the hearing regarding District Court until February 13th and the Prosecutor
prefers to be able to answer questions after this process is complete, so he
has asked to have this item rescheduled once that court process is through.
Kershner stated Cascadia Daily is doing a fine job of reporting what is
going on and she appreciates being able to read the newspaper to find out
what our Prosecuting Attorney is doing.
Clerk's note: The item concerning the Justice Project (AB2023-106) was
scheduled for 3:30 and the time at this point in the meeting was just shy of
3 p.m. so Buchanan skipped ahead to OTHER BUSINESS.
This agenda item was WITHDRAWN.
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final February 7, 2023
Other Business
Elenbaas spoke about the Health Department's recent announcement that it
is changing its name to Health and Community Services and stated he would
like a legal opinion on whether they can do that since the Council sets
departments. He spoke about his concerns.
Karen Frakes, Prosecuting Attorney's Office, stated she will look at that and
get back to them.
Clerk's note: The Committee took a break until 3:30 p.m. because the next
agenda item was scheduled for that time on the agenda.
Special Presentation (3:30 p.m. start time)
1. B202,3 --_106 Presentation of the Justice Project Needs Assessment Report (Public Health, Safety,
and Justice Facility Needs Assessment)
The following people presented:
• Barry Buchanan, Councilmember and Stakeholder Advisory
Committee Chair
• Stephen Gockley, Stakeholder Advisory Committee and
Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force Co -Chair
• Jack Hovenier, Stakeholder Advisory Committee and Incarceration
Prevention and Reduction Task Force Co -Chair
• Tyler Schroeder, Director of Administrative Services
They answered questions about whether the additional capital facilities and
programs for behavioral health will be included in the financial ask that goes
on the ballot, whether there is consensus of what the 14 percent of the
Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) that were not in favor of the Needs
Assessment report needed to get to a yes on it, what the three locations are
that were considered by the SAC, the timeline for when they would need to
see the proposals for funding sources and have a public hearing, and whether
there will be ample opportunity for public hearing input.
This agenda item was PRESENTED.
Items Added by Revision
Adiournment
There were no agenda items added by revision.
The meeting adjourned at 4:19 p.m.
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Council Committee of the Whole Committee Minutes - Final February 7, 2023
The County Council approved these minutes on February 21, 2023.
ATT i Cy
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
"a, WHATCOM COUNTY, WA
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Dacia Brown JSavyis, council Qterk Bar y B chanan, Council Chair
Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Transcription
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