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near future the County Council and/or Planning Department will need to consider <br /> initiating a bill to regulate all short-term vacation rentals,including `hosted' rentals. <br /> The proposed bill will have an impact on visitor accommodations on agricultural <br /> lands. Many visitors choose to stay on agricultural lands for the ambience and to <br /> experience agricultural or ecological tourism. Currently State land use law does not allow <br /> visitor accommodations in farm dwellings on lands in the state land use Agricultural <br /> District. All dwellings in the Agricultural District are considered farm dwellings, except <br /> for the first dwelling on lots created before June 4, 1976. Based on vacation rental <br /> statistics for the County it is likely that many hosted and un-hosted short-term vacation <br /> rentals currently operate in the Agricultural district without regard for State law. Since <br /> the Zoning Code currently does not define or regulate short-term vacation rentals, other <br /> than B&B's, these visitor accommodations have been established by landowners without <br /> any permitting requirements by the Department.Thus it is likely that visitor <br /> accommodations in farm dwellings,which do not conform to State law,will come to light <br /> and be instructed to cease operations when the Department investigates complaints as a <br /> result of this bill. <br /> Lastly,the bill does not require specific health and safety measures. In some <br /> communities, STVR regulations,require at a minimum that fire extinguishers, emergency <br /> plans for responding to natural disasters, and other basic safety measures be provided at <br /> the STVR. This is especially important since STVR's are `un-hosted' and guests will not <br /> be familiar with the structure or the surrounding community. The Fire Department and <br /> Building Division have provided memos indicating some safety standards. <br /> AGENCY COMMENTS PROVIDED <br /> 1. Department of Public Works- Building Division: P.D. Exhibit 3-Memo dated <br /> August 29,2018 <br /> 2. Fire Department: P.D. Exhibit 4- Memo dated August 16,2018 <br /> 3. Police Department: P.D.Exhibit 5-Memo dated August 8,2018 <br /> 4. Department of Environmental Management: P.D. Exhibit 6-Memo dated <br /> August 10,2018 <br /> 5. State Department of Land and Natural Resources: P.D.Exhibit 7-Memo <br /> dated August 16,2018 <br /> -8- <br />