Ed Utyro Testimony 06.29.23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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story. Is it the prospective buyer or is it the Planning Commission and the Planning Department? The Applicant has advised the PD the various unpermitted operations must continue because there is no money to pay for them into compliance but what we see here is a very different story. There is clearly a scenario outlined with new investors and Robert as a minority investor with a plan to make these new improvements AND not address the things needing to be brought into compliance. In this plan there is now some money available for improvements yet none for septic systems etc. The emphasis on large public events to generate income at HER has been reduced in the recent months and likely is attributable to the imposition of this permit process. Whether that remains to be the case is speculative but what we can see from various HER customers is currently an emphasis on renting rooms. The Applicant's plan as indicated by the Information Packet suggests even more housing. If the business direction is at least in part an increased emphasis on vacation rentals as has recently been the case, it seems incumbent on PD and the Planning Commission to insure any Special Permit won't provide any greater regulatory leniency than may be required by any future regulations on long term or short-term housing that would apply absent the Special Permit. Existing STVR rules do hold the prospect of inspection and various types of compliance and should any new rules on hosted vacation rentals come to have similar requirements, it does not seem like the award of a special permit should exempt the applicant from any new rental rules that would apply absent the Special Permit. It is our hope that the Planning Commission and PD would assert a requirement of maximum compliance with all applicable rules, including future rules, even if certain rooms/cottages have multiple uses. In the event they are even occasionally used as short term or long term rentals, those rules should apply as the case may be in addition to any rules required in the Special Permit for any alternative uses. The larger concern of many of the neighbors in opposition to this permit however is that no sale will occur over the next couple of years and that HER will return to large Tantra Festivals, Quodushka gatherings and other similar events where group sex in public settings is encouraged as they have done in the past. The point of the following is just to provide another exhibit but there are others posted on Robert's website.