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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> Monday,October 9,2017 <br /> 7:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> 14. AUTHORIZATION TO REVIEW POSSIBLE ORDINANCE TO PROHIBIT SHORT- <br /> TERM RENTALS—Continued <br /> Barnhart indicated there is a mix,with a number of cities regulating rental housing,with short-term <br /> rentals being a component of that,and some cities just regulating short-term rentals. The City of <br /> Shoreview prohibits short-term rentals. <br /> Dankey asked if any of the cities have said that something in particular has worked for them. <br /> Barnhart stated the question comes down to how many resources Orono can put on enforcing an <br /> ordinance. Barnhart stated the City of Plymouth regulates short-term rentals but they have much more <br /> resources to conduct frequent inspections and then other cities do an inspection once every three to five <br /> years. In 2015, Staff proposed requiring a license that was intended to identify an onsite manager that <br /> could be contacted with any complaints. <br /> Walsh noted originally when the Council discussed this,one issue was having someone that could be <br /> contacted in the event of an issue. Walsh stated a new issue is how the City protects itself against sex <br /> offenders coming in on a short-term rental as well as the number of people in the rental house. <br /> Barnhart stated if the City requires a license, someone would need to be in charge of the rental,but that he <br /> is not sure how the City could regulate the number of people in the house. Barnhart stated from a building <br /> code perspective,there is a capacity question on a home,but that he does not know how the City would <br /> be able to track that outside of responding to complaints. Currently the City has regulations addressing <br /> parking,traffic,and noise. <br /> Dankey asked if it is possible to restrict the number of people through the licensing process. <br /> Barnhart stated there is probably a way to limit it and that Staff can take a look at that. <br /> Seals stated she used to own rental properties in Duluth and that they would require a license. Seals <br /> stated if she had so many complaints against the property, she was at risk of losing her license and that <br /> she made sure she had rules in place. Seals stated in her view this conversation is about people being <br /> good citizens. <br /> Mattick stated with the advent of AirBnb, short-term rentals have become more popular and that the <br /> question is whether the Council is looking to distinguish short-term rentals from other rentals. Mattick <br /> stated what would help the most is to identify the problem the City is trying to solve, such as noise or <br /> parking. <br /> Police Chief Farniok stated as it relates to sex offenders,the police department monitors them when they <br /> move here and use a permanent address. Farniok noted there is no way the police department could ever <br /> address the situation such as the one that occurred in Minnetonka,especially if they do not yet have that <br /> sex offender designation. <br /> Farniok stated the police department has not seen huge issues with the short-term rentals and that they <br /> currently have regulations to address situations with noise,parking,etc. Farniok stated he does not know <br /> if those issues pertain to just regular homeowners or rentals. Farniok stated the City can probably expect <br /> to see an increase in complaints with the Super Bowl. <br /> Page 16 of 23 <br />