Pateros homeowners discuss nightly rental zoning with city council

Pateros – Katie and Paul Servino, owners of a remodeled home at 123 Chris Street in Pateros, appeared before the June 20 meeting of the Pateros City Council to request a special permit or waiver to allow their R-1 zoned property to be used as a nightly rental.

Earlier this year the Servinos were notified by the city that their Airbnb was out of compliance with the current zoning.

“We have blacked out our calendar and not taken any additional nightly reservations,” wrote the Servinos in a letter to the council. “We canceled our June reservations and received a 25 percent cancellation fee as a penalty. We will and have taken no further reservations for nightly rentals.”

In their letter to the council the Servinos responded point-by-point to code provisions cited by city planner Kurt Danison at the May council meeting. Regarding complaints that nightly rentals disrupt single family neighborhoods the Servinos wrote:

“We are located so close to R-1-A waterfront homes (nightly rentals allowed) that the claims about noise disruption…are implausible. Any noise at those (waterfront) homes would impact other R-1 neighbors across the street equally.”

The Servinos pointed out that their home is bordered on two sides by school-owned buildings that are empty at night. They added that they have never received any neighbor complaints and suggested the city disclose the number of complaints received since 2014 so they can better understand the problem.

To the claim that the city imposed the 2014 nightly rental moratorium because they take up housing stocks, the Servinos inquired whether limited housing stock was considered when the school district purchased the house next to theirs and used it for administrative and operations purposes.

“We are aware that they worked with the city council to rezone the home next to ours from R-1 to Public Utility zoning which does not permit residential usage.”

The Servinos observed that the house was then rented to a teacher for six months in violation of the zoning code.

The claim that allowing nightly rentals only along the waterfront makes more affordable housing available for monthly rentals to address the chronic housing shortage drew this reply:

“R-2 and R-3 are also permitted per the city code to apply for nightly rentals,” wrote the Servinos. “Are these permits being denied?”

The Servinos said that a monthly rental will be less likely to allow them to break even on their expenses due to the discounted price of monthly versus nightly rentals.

“Denying our request to be treated like all the other zones in Pateros will not solve the housing crisis,” wrote the Servinos and stressed, “The problem of affordable housing and low inventory cannot be thrust onto our shoulders alone.”

The Servinos summed up their presentation with two points:

            • “Nightly rentals generate additional income for folks in the community,” wrote the Servinos. “We pay out management fees, cleaning fees, landscaping fees and other recurring utilities costs to various persons and businesses in the area, not to mention tax revenue.”

            • “We believe investment contributes to job growth and more potential to build and grow communities and help solve housing shortages,’ wrote the Servinos. “We believe restoring worn down, unoccupied homes in the community will spur investment and growth for the city and for business owners.”

The Servinos noted that the house they remodeled was unfit for living, with a leaking roof, and no heat or air conditioning. In addition to those repairs the couple added another bedroom and bathroom.

Council and Planning Committee member Mike Harding said the committee is recommending the council to review amendments to the zoning use chart pertaining to nightly rentals.