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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/19/2018 15 Hotel and Motel Zoning Ordinance DefinitionsITEM TITLE: SUBMITTED BY: BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL YAKIMA, WASHINGTON AGENDASTATEMENT 1 Item No. 15. For Meeting of: June 19, 2018 Consideration of potential definitions of Hotel & Motel for Zoning Ordinance Joan Davenport, Al CP, Community Development Director Joseph Calhoun, Planning Manager (509) 575-6042 SUMMARY EXPLANATION: At the June 5, 2018 City Council meeting, staff was directed to bring zoning definitions for "Hotels & Motels" for discussion at the June 19, 2018 City Council meeting. The requested review of definitions for Hotel uses was in addition to the Council also directed an Ad Hoc community group to discuss the issues of temporary worker housing. The Council expressed concern about the lack of a zoning definition for hotels in Yakima. Staff has provided the requested pertinent information in the attached report. If Council provides direction on the specifics of a requested Hotel & Motel definition, a public hearing can be scheduled. ITEM BUDGETED: NA STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Economic Development APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL: City Manager STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Provide direction to staff BOARD/COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: ATTACHMENTS: Description Upload Date Type 2 memo 6/14/2018 Coker Memo 3 MEMORANDUM To: Honorable Mayor Coffey and Members of the Yakima City Council From: Joan Davenport, Community Development Director Joseph Calhoun, Planning Manager Date: June 19, 2018 Subj: Motel/ Hotel Definitions 1. Background Information: The City of Yakima Zoning Ordinance, YMC Title 15, does not currently have a definition for Motel/Hotel. Since 2002, the City of Yakima has permitted the construction/renovation of 7 new hotels, some of which include extended stay offerings to guests as part of their operation. Despite not having a definition, the proposals were permitted as hotels in accordance with YMC § 15.02.020, based on the "ordinary accepted meaning within the context with which they are used. 11 Motels and Hotels are currently allowed in several commercial zoning districts, as follows: SR R-1 R-2 R_3 B-1 B-2 H SCC LCC AS C CD RD, M-2 Metes ,end Hatels 2 Note, that in all zones except SCC where hotels/motels are allowed they are allowed w.th a Type 1 review, which is an administrative review with no notice to adjacent landowners. In the SCC, a Type 2 review is required that does provide notice and an opportunity to comment to surrounding landowners. On June 5, 2018, Council moved to direct staff to bring different drafts of a text amendment defining specific definitions for Hotel/Motel to the June 19, 2018 council meeting. 2. Current Hotel/Motel definition examples: Washington State defines "Hotels, Lodging House, Etc." as: "Any building held out to the public to be an inn, hotel or public lodging house or place where sleeping accommodations, whether with or without meals, or the facilities for preparing the same, are furnished for hire to transient guests, in which three or more rooms are used for the accommodation of such guests, shall for the purposes of this chapter and chapter 60 64 RCW, or any amendment thereof, only, be defined to be a hotel, and whenever the word hotel shall occur in this chapter and chapter 60,64 RCW, or any amendment thereof, it shall be construed to mean a hotel as herein described." (RCW 19.48.010). 4 In YMC 11.13 (Buildings and Safety Code) there is a definition of hotel for purposes of the building safety code for apartments and hotels, adopted by the City Council in 1973 and updated in 1979. That definition is as follows: "Hotel" means any building, more than one story in height, containing four or more guest rooms designed to be used for sleeping purposes, and includes accommodations known as motels, tourist courts, motor lodges and similar accommodations which meet the definition of this section; provided, "hotel" does not include any jail, hospital, asylum, sanitarium, orphanage, prison, detention home or other institutions in which human beings are housed and detained under legal restraint. Finally, staff reviewed how several cities in Washington State define the use (see Appendix A for complete list). A. City of Seattle "Lodging use" means a commercial use in which the primary activity is the provision of rooms to transients. Lodging uses include but are not limited to the following uses: 1. "Bed and breakfast" means a lodging use where rooms within a single dwelling unit are provided to transients by a resident operator for a fee by prearrangement on a daily or short-term basis. A breakfast and/or light snacks may be served to those renting rooms in the bed and breakfast. 2. "Hotel" means a lodging use located in a structure in which access to individual units is predominantly by means of common interior hallways, and in which a majority of the rooms are provided to transients for a fee on a daily or short-term basis. 3. "Motel" means a lodging use located in a structure in which access to individual units is predominantly by means of common exterior corridors, and in which a majority of the rooms are provided to transients on a daily or short-term basis, and in which off-street parking is provided on the lot. 4. "Short-term rental" means a lodging use that is not a bed and breakfast, hotel, or motel, in which a dwelling unit, or portion thereof, is offered or provided to a guest(s) by a short-term rental operator for a fee for fewer than 30 consecutive nights. A dwelling unit, or portion thereof, that is used by the same person for 30 or more consecutive nights is not a short-term rental. A dwelling unit, or portion thereof, that is operated by an organization or government entity that is registered as a charitable organization with the Secretary of State, State of Washington, and/or is classified by the Internal Revenue Service as a public charity or private foundation, and provides temporary housing to individuals who are being treated for trauma, injury, or disease, and/or their family members, is not a short-term rental. Yakima already has a definition of bed and breakfast, as follows: "a residential structure providing individuals with lodging and meals for not more than thirty days. For home occupations, such uses are limited to having not more than five lodging units or guest rooms. 5 Seattle's "short term rental" definition is intended to cover vacation rentals through platforms such as AirBnB and VRBO where people rent out rooms, their apartments or their whole house to travelers. The City of Yakima does not have a definition or regulations for such vacation rentals and that was not part of the Council's directive to staff. Seattle's definitions of hotel and motel provide that a majority of rooms are to be available to transients for daily or short-term use. Transient (although not defined in the Seattle code) means something other than a resident—a temporary use of the property. Short term is also undefined in the code. Generally speaking, undefined terms have their ordinary meanings. As such, a majority of the rooms in a hotel must be used for accommodations for people for a short period of time—they can't be there as their permanent residence. The main difference between the two is the set-up of the building. In both of these situations, a majority of the rooms must be set aside for short-term transient accommodations. B. City of Auburn The City of Auburn specifically contemplates extended stay accommodations in its definition of hotel. Extended stay hotels are a growing market, and Yakima is no exception as there are two new extended stay hotels in progress. Auburn's definition of hotel is as follows: "Hotel" means any building containing six or more guest rooms intended or designed to be used, or which are used, rented, or hired out to be occupied, or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests, and includes additional amenities such as banquet halls and meeting facilities. Hotels include but are not limited to motels and extended stay hotel accommodations. Hotels do not include renting of rooms, boardinghouses, or bed and breakfast accommodations This definition contemplates guest rooms and traditional amenities at hotels. The definition also specifically states that motels and extended stay hotels fall under the definition. It then specifically states that renting a room to someone would not fall under such definition, nor would boarding houses or bed and breakfasts. Yakima has definitions for boarding houses and bed and breakfasts, so putting language similar to Auburn's in a definition could make clear that if a building falls under the definition of a boarding house that it cannot be a hotel. Further, the definition does not allow renting rooms in a landlord/tenant type of relationship to people and calling the business a hotel. There are some possible local issues associated with ensuring that hotels do not provide rooms for rent for Extended Stay uses. There are some businesses that are licensed as hotels that rent rooms by the month. In some cases they may rent rooms by the month to the same people for extended periods of time—thus renting rooms more like residences than transient accommodations. Any evaluation of the definition of hotels may want to look at how the change in definition would affect those businesses. C. City of Pasco We point out the City of Pasco's ordinance because staff has used Pasco as an example of a City that has migrant and H2A housing within the City at a former hotel/motel. Pasco's definition 6 is very broad and encompasses traditional hotels/motels, extended stay hotels, and hotels used as month to month residencies. It states as follows: "Hotels or motels" means any commercial establishment offering lodging to travelers and sometimes to permanent residents. Such a definition would encompass all aspects of hotels and motels, including the use of them for month to month tenancies for people who are unable to find other rental opportunities. This definition would allow permanent residences within hotels and motels even though they may not have all of the amenities required in dwellings (such as kitchens). It also allows longer-term stays and the ability to use hotel/motel accommodations for permanent residents. 3. Planning Commission recommendation The Planning Commission created and recommended the following definition of hotel/motel during its review of congregate living and in its March 28, 2018 recommendation to Council: "Motel/Hotel" means a commercial establishment offering transient lodging or lodging and meals to the general public for compensation. Accessory uses to Motel/Hotels may include restaurants, meeting rooms or recreational facilities. This definition requires that the commercial establishment offers transient lodging to the general public for compensation. Transient would have its general dictionary definition if there was a question of whether an application met the definition of "motel/hotel." Unlike some other examples, this example did not indicate how many units constituted a motel/hotel, nor does it make any statement about extended stay accommodations. 4. Extended Stay If the Council wishes a "Hotel" definition that excludes Extended Stay uses, that should be added to the definition of Hotel. And a definition of Extended Stay Hotels of more than 30 days would need to be added to the Zoning Ordinance. This would require a new land use category to be added to Table 4-1. Extended Stay; Next Steps: City Council can combine any of these definitions, use the definition proposed by the Planning Commission, or direct staff to create a new definition, which may include language specific to extended stay (more than 30 days), or other types of accommodations. Staff will then draft an Ordinance specifying the new proposed definition based on council feedback, after which the Council will need to schedule the matter for an open record public hearing. After adoption, the Ordinance will be effective 30 days after publication. 7 Appendix A The following examples come from several cities in Washington State, both eastern and western, and are presented as information and options for council to consider. Like Yakima, there are cities that do not have a definition. Cities that define the use range from a single sentence to a broad scope including numbers of units, length of stay, and/or the inclusion of other amenities. 1. Spokane No definitions in zoning code for hotel or motel. Spokane does regulate short term rentals for less than 30 days in a dwelling unit—such as an AirBnB or VRBO rental. 2. Walla Walla No definitions in zoning code for hotel or motel. However, Walla Walla does have a code section that applies to short term rentals. This section addresses the AirBnB and VRBO situations where dwellings are used for short term vacation rentals. Walla Walla also has code sections addressing bed and breakfasts specifically. 3. Vancouver No definitions in zoning code for hotel or motel. 4. Pasco "Hotels or motels" means any commercial establishment offering lodging to travelers and sometimes to permanent residents. (Ord. 4369, 2017) 5. Wenatchee "Hotel" means a building or portion thereof designed or used as a commercial establishment offering lodging to persons with the rental of six or more units for sleeping purposes. A central kitchen, dining room(s), shops and services available to hotel guests and the general public are common and ordinary accessory activities. "Motel" means a building or group of buildings where lodging is available in six or more separate rooms to guests for compensation and providing parking for automobiles adjacent to the lodging. Said building or group of buildings include, but are not limited to, tourist court, motor lodge, auto court, cabin court, motor inn, and similar terms. 6. Spokane Valley Hotel/motel: A building in which there are six or more guest rooms where lodging with or without meals is provided for compensation, and where no provision is made for cooking in any individual room or suite. See "Lodging, use category." 8 7. Everett "Hotel" means a facility offering transient lodging accommodations on a daily rate to the general public which may also provide incidental services such as restaurants, meeting rooms or recreational facilities. "Motel" means a building providing transient lodging with parking conveniently located to each unit, which may also include incidental uses such as meeting rooms, restaurants, etc. 8. Kent Hotel means any building containing six (6) or more guestrooms which are intended or designed to be used or which are used, rented, or hired out to be occupied or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests. Motel, including hotel and motor hotel, means a building or group of buildings comprising individual sleeping or living units for the accommodation of transient guests for compensation. 9. Auburn "Hotel" means any building containing six or more guest rooms intended or designed to be used, or which are used, rented, or hired out to be occupied, or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests, and includes additional amenities such as banquet halls and meeting facilities. Hotels include but are not limited to motels and extended stay hotel accommodations. Hotels do not include renting of rooms, boardinghouses, or bed and breakfast accommodations (Ord. 6245 § 3, 2009, Ord. 4229 § 2, 1987.) "Motel" or "motor hotel" means a group of buildings containing individual sleeping or living units, designed for use by automobile tourists or transients, with garage attached or parking space conveniently located to each unit. (Ord. 6245 § 3, 2009; Ord. 4229 § 2, 1987.) 10. Bellevue Hotel/Motel. A building or portion thereof designed or used to provide transient lodging of six or more units in any building or more than 20 percent of the units comprising a development. A central kitchen and dining room and accessory shops and services catering to the general public can be provided. Institutions housing persons under legal restraint or requiring medical attention or care, bed and breakfasts and boarding houses are not included within the scope of this definition. (Ord. 5301, 6-18-01, § 3) 11. Bellingham "Hotel" means a building, other than a motel, providing lodging with or without meals for the public and especially for temporary guests, but which does not have cooking facilities in individual rooms. "Motel" means a building or group of buildings containing rooms where lodging with or without meals is provided for compensation. Cooking facilities may be installed, provided no more than 10 percent of the motel units contain complete cooking facilities, and cooking facilities in the remaining units are limited to a "countertop range" with no oven. Motels shall be designed to accommodate the automobile tourist or transient; daily maid service shall be provided, and parking facilities must be provided convenient to each guest room. 9 12. Kennewick Hotel means a facility offering transient lodging accommodations on a daily rate to the general public and may include additional services, such as restaurants, meeting rooms, and recreational facilities. (See Transient accommodations). Note, Transient Accommodations definition was repealed 2007) Motel means a building or group of detached buildings designed or used primarily for providing sleeping accommodations for automobile travelers and having a parking space adjacent to a sleeping room. 13. Lynnwood "Apartment hotel" means a building providing accommodations for transient guests in which at least 50 percent of the gross habitable floor area is devoted to dwelling units. 14. Seattle "Lodging use" means a commercial use in which the primary activity is the provision of rooms to transients. Lodging uses include but are not limited to the following uses: 5. "Bed and breakfast" means a lodging use where rooms within a single dwelling unit are provided to transients by a resident operator for a fee by prearrangement on a daily or short-term basis. A breakfast and/or light snacks may be served to those renting rooms in the bed and breakfast. 6. "Hotel" means a lodging use located in a structure in which access to individual units is predominantly by means of common interior hallways, and in which a majority of the rooms are provided to transients for a fee on a daily or short-term basis. 7. "Motel" means a lodging use located in a structure in which access to individual units is predominantly by means of common exterior corridors, and in which a majority of the rooms are provided to transients on a daily or short-term basis, and in which off-street parking is provided on the lot. 8. "Short-term rental" means a lodging use that is not a bed and breakfast, hotel, or motel, in which a dwelling unit, or portion thereof, is offered or provided to a guest(s) by a short-term rental operator for a fee for fewer than 30 consecutive nights. A dwelling unit, or portion thereof, that is used by the same person for 30 or more consecutive nights is not a short-term rental. A dwelling unit, or portion thereof, that is operated by an organization or government entity that is registered as a charitable organization with the Secretary of State, State of Washington, and/or is classified by the Internal Revenue Service as a public charity or private foundation, and provides temporary housing to individuals who are being treated for trauma, injury, or disease, and/or their family members, is not a short-term rental.