Planning Commission

Planning Commission Minutes December 11, 2023 The City of Yukon Planning Commission held a Meeting on December 11, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Centennial Building at 12 South 5th St. ROLL CALL: (Present) Bill Baker, Chairman Jarrid Wright, Vice-Chairman Nick Grba, Commissioner Lee Clark, Commissioner Jeff Geis, Commissioner OTHERS PRESENT: Jessica Bloye, City Planner with J&A Mark Zitzow, City Planner with J&A Julie Shannon, Planning Director Danielle O’Neal, Asst Planning Director Mitchell Hort, Assistant City Manager INVOCATION: Commissioner Baker FLAG SALUTE: Commissioner Geis 1.ITEM: APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 13, 2023 MEETING Motion: Commissioner Grba made a make a motion to approve the minutes of the November 13, 2023 meeting. Seconded by: Commissioner Geis. The Vote: Ayes: Baker, Wright, Grba, Geis, Clark Nays: None Vote: 5-0 Motion Carried 2.ITEM: VISITORS None 3.ITEM: PC 2023-5 TO HEAR A REQUEST BY GEORGE MARQUEZ OF CIVIL ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS FOR COOPER INVESTMENTS, LLC FOR A CURB CUT AT 1780 GARTH BROOKS BLVD. Discussion: George Marquez explained that they were requesting a curb cut off of NW 10th to access to lot 1 because they only have cross access from lot 2. Chairman Baker asked for clarification of the address and Julie Shannon explained that we had to use the address of record from Canadian County for the application and a new address would be assigned when the building was built. Commissioner Wright asked if the address was for Cooper’s building on lot 1 and if there would be cross access with that parking lot. Mr. Marquez confirmed that there would. Commissioner Baker asked about the timeline for the project. Mr. Marquez confirmed that this would be soon since they were about 2 weeks away from applying for building permits. Motion: Commissioner Geis recommended approval by stating “In the case of the curb cut application by Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. on behalf of Cooper Yukon Investments, LLC, we have read the staff report and received testimony at the public hearing. We find ourselves in agreement with the staff findings cited in the Staff Report. I move that this item be recommended for approval with the condition that one of the three access control options be added to the plan that are outlined in Article 5, Section 503 Access Management item G, Access Controls.” Seconded by Commissioner Wright. The Vote: Ayes: Baker, Wright, Grba, Geis, Clark Nays: Wright Vote: 4-1 Motion Carried 4. ITEM: PC 2023-2 TO HEAR A REQUEST BY ANGELA SECREST & MATTHEW ROBERTSON FOR A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A SHORT-TERM RENTAL AT 2412 YOSEMITE PARK RD. Discussion: Angela Secrest explained that she put in an application to rent out room and bathroom in her home as a short-term rental and that it would not be rented-out when she was not there. The pool would not be included. She feels that Air Bnbs are safer than hotels and she likes to use them when she travels. Commissioner Wright asked if the room was separate from the house. Chairman Baker asked if the driveway was single or double and if there would be room for off street parking and if a sign was put up in the yard. Ms. Secrest explained that she was not informed about a sign and felt uncomfortable about it so she took it down. Commissioner Grba asked about the dates of advertising. Ms. Secrest explained that she did not know how to snooze the advertisement but figured it out after City staff explained how. Commissioner Geis confirmed that she understood the rules about Short-term rentals. Karen Graves spoke in protest against Short-term Rentals in Yukon. She has seen what they have done to other neighborhoods and objects to setting the precedent that it is ok. Steven Nelson said that he lived across from the applicant well and had no issues with her application. Ms. Graves asked how Planning Commission could allow a zoning change from R-1 to an SUP. Mark Zitzow explained that anyone could ask for a zoning change and that City of Yukon created this process because people were operating illegally. Chairman Baker asked Mitchell Hort to explain how people find Short-term rentals in Yukon. Mr. Hort explained that we have been looking on Air Bnb and VRBO websites and that we were working to get people into compliance with the new ordinance. Commissioner Wright asked what our policy was on signs in the yard. Mr. Hort explained that any time we have an application for a Special Use Permit, we post a sign on the property. Questions were asked about HOAs and property owners associations. Mark Zitzow explained that the HOAs could prohibit Short-term rentals even if the City could permit them. He said that fines of $600.00 a day can be issued for violations and that Planning Commission can put conditions and restrictions on the recommendation. Motion: Commissioner Wright made a motion to approve. Seconded by Commissioner Geis. The Vote: Ayes: Baker, Wright, Grba, Geis, Clark Nays: None Vote: 5-0 Motion Carried 5. ITEM: PC 2023-3 TO HEAR A REQUEST BY PETE & DIANA CRAWFORD FOR A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A SHORT-TERM RENTAL AT 2512 OLYMPIC DR Discussion: Dianna Crawford explained that they have owned the house ince 1983 and it became a long-term rental in 1994. She asked if the definition of short-term rental was 30 days or more. She explained that they had rented properties out to the FAA for several years for 60- 90 days for students attending flight school but during the pandemic, they were approached by Air Bnb to do short term rentals. They did not realize they could not do that. They have not had one complaint. She is very strict and has a minimum of 4 nights. She does not take anyone without 4 ½ or 5 stars from previous host. Mary Donelly, Sue Waters and Ward Larson spoke in favor of the application. Kathy Aebischer spoke in opposition to short term rentals in the City of Yukon. She said a constant flow of strangers in and out of a neighborhood leads to disengagement. Studies have shown that short term rentals lead to increased crime because neighbors lose the ability to police a neighborhood. She is also worried about affordable housing and losing housing from the inventory. She is concerned that if the amphitheater is built nearby, more short term rentals will come in with a different clientele. Chairman Baker agreed about concerns with losing affordable housing. He asked if the applicant would want a ban on short term rentals, or restrictions on the number in a neighborhood or a 4 day minimum. He suggested discussing her concerns with City Council so that they might look at amending the ordinance. Mark Zitzow clarified that the conditions listed in the staff report were in the ordinance and if commissioners wanted to add any conditions to those, like a 4-night minimum stay, they could do so in the motion. Commissioner Geis spoke about Yukon’s ordinance and how it was very restrictive and covered many items like no amplified music and off-street parking on purpose. Motion: Commissioner Wright made a motion to approve with the conditions that are stated. Seconded by Commissioner Grba. The Vote: Ayes: Baker, Wright, Grba, Geis, Clark Nays: None Vote: 5-0 Motion Carried 6. ITEM: PC 2023-4 TO HEAR A REQUEST BY VERDE RENTALS LLC FOR A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A SHORT-TERM RENTAL AT 122 DIANNA DRIVE. Discussion: Anthony Green spoke on behalf of Verde Rentals. He said he also rents out for longer term or mid-term rentals (60-90 days) such as FAA but sometimes puts it on Air Bnb. He has a 3- night minimum to discourage parties. He has owned the property for 3 years and had more problems with long term tenants for the first 2 years than he has with his short term stay guests. The property has no pool. Chairman Baker asked if the sign was still up and if he mainly used Air Bnb. Mr. Green said he mainly used Air Bnb and VRBO. Dick Swift spoke in opposition to short-term rentals in general. He asked about Home Owner’s Associations. He said one problem with Dianna was that it only had a single-car driveway and that the street was crowded. Chairman Baker asked him about his rental properties and how the short-term rentals were impacting the rental market. He said he had no houses available right now. He discussed the home building situation in Yukon and how land was limited for building new housing and that houses were expensive in Yukon and were selling over the asking price. Motion: Commissioner Clark recommended approval with the conditions listed. Seconded by Commissioner Grba. The Vote: Ayes: Baker, Wright, Grba, Geis, Clark Nays: None Vote: 5-0 Motion Carried 7. ITEM: NEW BUSINESS None. 8. ITEM: OPEN DISCUSSION Chairman Baker asked about clustering of Short- term rentals and if there would be a limit on how many could be allowed. Commissioner Wright said if they put more limits on short- term rentals then they should be able to control long term rentals. Mitchell Hort was concerned about too much bantering on items not on the agenda. 9. ITEM: ADJOURNMENT – NEXT MEETING JANUARY 22, 2023