At last Tuesday night's Manson Community Council meeting, short term rentals came up as a hot topic, with Chelan County Commissioner Tiffany Gering's comment about the number of STR's that did not come up for a 2023 renewal:
Gering said those 14 late applicants applied for a hardship, which is in the code, but what constitutes a hardship was not defined, and Interim Community Development Director Deanna Walter feels that defining a hardship is a subjective issue, and one that could put the county in a sticky situation. For example, the couple who was in Florida during a hurricane at the time of the deadline. Should they get a hardship, even though they had plenty of time to apply prior to the deadline? Gering says the county commission is contemplating what to do:
One of the questions Council Chair Kari Sorenson had for the commissioner was is there a list of licensed short term rentals available? Gering had no answer for that, but Council Member John Frolker suggested a phone call to the county might be a smart substitute:
Gering said at the very least, the county should be working toward putting a list of short term rentals on the county's website so anybody could access it.