What should I do about City zoning laws?

[Jen-And-Dave0]

I received a certified letter from the city of Bellingham, WA indicating that I am operating an illegal “bed and breakfast”. The letter states that the city’s intent is to not allow short term (less than 1 month) rentals in a residential neighborhood. They indicate that I must shut down by August 1st or face enforcement action.

I called the city planning department and talked with the person that sent the letter. He said that, while this “short term” rental rule is not in writing, it is the intent of the code.  When I pressed him about the hundreds of other Airbnb’s in town, he said they are not staffed to inforce the code but deal with this issue on a case-by-case basis when they receive a complaint. 

According to this planner, our only option is to file for a conditional use permit to operate as a bed and breakfast. This sounds like a fairly lengthy and costly process and there is a good chance that the city will not issue a permit as it is at the discretion of the planning commissioner.

I find it hard to believe that a city could operate on rules that our not documented.  I also think that it is unfortunate the other people renting through these services are likely unaware that they are only one complaint away from being shut down.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Nick207]

Jen and Dave, what is the update on this? I'm planning on hosting in Bellingham and would like to know what is going on currently. Please any info will help.

[John919]

The air b.and b sites definition gets yu th in trouble renting a room and bed and breakfast are 2diff things I got stung on this too by a local bed and breakfast that was a bed and breakfast they filed a complaint I was shut down the price in Lapeer county to do so in Michigan is 1600 to start  well legaly yu need to just rent rooms get rid of the the termb n and b and yu fall in legal limits

[Kori4]

Hi Jen and Dave,

Were you able to resolve this with the City of Bellingham? 

[Jerry94]

The planner is exactly correct, zoning exists to protect property value and quality of life in the are of the jurisdiction and operating an airbnb facility is essentially a hotel use, you should not be surprised that you were outed for violating the zoning in your area.  Applying for a conditional use permit is the exact remedy but, as you said, you may not be given a conditional permit.  Get real...

[Curt0]

Hi Jerry and all,

I agree with you about the purpose of zoning laws.  I am a former zoning commissioner for Ledyard Connecticut and you are correct.  If you are refering to to original post from a resident of Bellingham, Wa.,  then we would need to know the ordinace wording to come to a proper conclusion.  You mention "hotel".  Well most likely the original poster's home is NOT legally considered a hotel.  He even mentioned that the planner could not show him where in the zoning ordinances that he was in violation.  That is the real problem here is that the planner never referred to the zoning ordinance to support the reason for the cease and desist.  In my opinion he was totally bullied by local government.  My township government tried it with me too.   But I knew the rules and went to court and won because when these issues get before a judge guess what happens.  The judge ONLY goes by the law and not opinion of what a local official wants to take place.  A judge will not go by the personal opinions of the local officials.  He/she will only go by the law.   What disturbs me is that this person in Bellingham never followed up with us as to what was the final outcome.  He should have fought.  Regards,  Curt Peterson

[Cree0]

Hi Curt,

I'm not sure what happened to that poster in Bellingham WA's situation, but I can tell you that Bellingham has recently decided to allow short-term rentals. Of course they are going to require the permits but at least they have come to realize that they were losing the battle so they decided to embrace the $$'s that they can rake in. I have a home we rent STR in Bellingham and now we have one in Kansas City. Kansas City. We were recently issued a "Courtesy Notice" that we are using our home illegally renting it without a permit. I read your post and plan to pursue the fact that we are not a "rental unit or dwelling"

[Curt0]

Hi Cree,

Suggest first and foremost that you do not reply to the courtesy letter.   Only a lawyer friend should do so because anything you say they can use in their defense.  Not sure about the laws in Kansas City but you must must know the laws for your homes zoning district.  Can you send me a copy of thier letter?   I am not  a lawyer but have been throught this.  What did they aquise you of?   Regards,  Curt Peterson Traverse City Michigan

[Paul154]

@Jerry94

What a perfect response from a true UW liberal who gladly saves money by renting an Airbnb for quality housing, but insists that any host who dares to offer housing is a true criminal.  Welcome to Seattle's palpable hypocrisy

[BNB-Detroit0]

Sounds like the city doesn't know what they are talking about.

Anyway -- can you work with 30+ day rentals, or at least tell the city that you have switched to 30+ day rentals, comply for a little bit, then switch back until you get another letter.  Seems any violations always start with a warning letter, then ups until a fine comes.  Nothing more likely to happen.  No point to blame the other Airbnb's, and this guy cannot interpret the law as he pleases.  Find out who complained too, neighbor?  Have a talk with them--friendly, maybe send a bottle of wine or something.  Trader Joe's is a great place, you can get $3-4 bottles of wine that make complainers happy.  Don't know how that works but it usually does.

[Aimee-And-Peter0]

Hi All - I too live in Bellingham, WA, and can attest to the following:

* The city does have a municipal code that infers short term rentals as bed and breakfasts, and requires a conditional use permit for them.  The code was written prior to vacation rentals taking off, and is presently being rewritten to consider vacation rentals specifically. See this page: https://www.cob.org/services/planning/development/Pages/short-term-rentals.aspx

The county - outside the city limits - has different rules (less stringent). 

* Jen and Dave, like several others I know, did need to cease and desist operating their vacation rental within the City of Bellingham, and now only offer a long term renting option. They were quite excited about being Airbnb hosts - and were good at it - so it's a bummer. 

* Others within the city limits have had the same shut-down occur, all triggered by a neighbor complaint. For one host, this meant cancelling an entire summer's worth of bookings. This host did go before a judge to apply for a conditional use permit, but the neighbor showed up at that hearing and said a number of misleading things that caused the judge to deny the permit. Eventually these hosts sold their rental home, and stopped the rental in the cottage behind their house. Both were wonderful offerings all Airbnb. 

[Curt0]

I am surprised that this could not have been fought.  A cease and desist is an opinion letter and not a true legal document.  What law did they say was being broken?  They would have to point out what illegal acivity in their opinion was being broken.  It sounds like what occurred was bullying.  If a new zoning code is enacted then the previous use could continue as a legal non-conforming use.  This is grandfathering that most zoning ordinances have across the USA.  Regards,  Curt Peterson

[Jaime-and-Judy0]

Here stupid people  are more powerful that any common sense...  and believe or not the men in charge make them happy... need their votes on the next polls 

[Paul154]

Very interesting thread with a lot of helpful suggestions.

I too quake at the arbitrariness of polititions and zoning commissars who believe our property is their property for their purposes .

You must fight back and you are not alone.

Drag out the process. Demand the city specifically demonstrate which law is broken. Determine if that law is valid. Due process dictates that that Law must not be arbitrary, capricious or retalitory. As it is now, it seems like they are posturing. Intent does not equal law.

Find others and go to city council meetings. Down here in Seattle, we have been lucky. When our socialist city council attempted to regulate Airbnb, they were VERY surprised at the hundreds of property owners who showed up to argue against. They did back down, temporarily (they are still trying to get their foot in the door with a weaker proposal...)

As for a lawyer, that is difficult. Many lawyers will gladly show the law you may be breaking and then charge you $1,000.

You need a lawyer that has experience with landlords rights, pragmatic work-arounds and PR. A tall order.

I refuse to believe that with all the money Airbnb has that Airbnb doesn't have legal/PR point people in all the communities they serve. But how do we plug into this?

Good luck

[Paul154]

Another fact which may help you.

While your city government may be against you, Washington State law may trump your city's rules and Washington State's laws are more friendly to property owners.

Don't give up

[JohnAndNancy1]

We'd like to weigh in on this;  Curt is right.  Unless there is a SPECIFIC ordinance that covers STR (short-term-rentals) the jurisdiction cannot force you to shut down.  This was tried in a case here in Chico, CA where the judge sided with the host, because their was no "clear direction" and there was "overbroad and arbritary application" meaning, of course there needs to be a specific ordinance covering STRs.

Although we operate in the county, we were about to be told we had 30 days to shut down because we were in violation.  The county backtracked and is now planning on working with the city of Chico to create an ordinance, which may take months, years.  (California's state legislature can't even come up with STR regulation.

Stick together and use positives to promote STRs.  We had a malicious complaint filed against our STR with the county Board of Supervisors.  We responded - partial response below:

Does the BOS want to attract overnight guests?  Tourists, from around the world, who visit the jewels of Butte County?  Do you want net profits to be spent locally or line the pockets of far-flung corporations?  Do you want to swell TOT?  Do you favor utilization of existing properties rather than chipping away at our finite resources?  Do you want emergency shelters – on a minute’s notice – available and ready to cater to those who have not only been displaced, but to those who are also deployed to assist?  Do you want to bring the World’s communities together?  (Airbnb views itself as a community, governed by peer accountability)       

If you answered yes to these questions, then please consider embracing, rather than obstructing, STRs.  Please don’t let ill-informed non-participants sway your judgement.  Give STR owners direction with a clear-defined ordinance and a minimalistic permit process, which will grease the wheels of what is inevitable: The transformation of the lodging industry.     

By Ashiah Scharaga, Enterprise-Record

Posted: 08/05/17, 9:38 PM PDT | Updated: on 08/05/2017

1 Comment

Chico >> A Chico couple who have been fighting the city to be able to use their home as a part-time vacation rental seems to have won.

The city’s stance has been that part-time rental of homes, apartments, rooms, floors and cottages is not allowed in Chico, because the zoning and municipal codes do not address it. Vacation rentals are viewed by city staff as similar to hotels and motels, which are not allowed in residential areas because of potentially disruptive ongoing commercial activity, including vehicle traffic and excessive noise.

A judge overturned the city’s interpretation at a July 27 administrative hearing. The city still has time to appeal this decision, however.

Judge Marcie Larson ruled that Chico’s municipal code does not effectively prohibit short-term occupancies “given the absence of any clear direction.”

“The lack of regulations addressing the use of a single-family residence ... as a short-term rental creates the danger of overbroad and arbitrary application,” she concluded in the order.

Unless the City Council decides to alter the code, people’s use of their property as a short-term rental must be allowed, according to the order. The city has to return all fines, which range from $300-$1,200 per violation, and withdraw all citations in this matter.

The city did NOT appeal.