By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Two Assembly members are hosting a town hall meeting tonight to discuss short-term rentals in Sitka.
Kevin Knox and Kevin Mosher organized the public discussion, to be held at 7 p.m. at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
The two were co-sponsors of an ordinance calling for a one-year moratorium on issuance of conditional use permits for short-term rentals in Residential zones.
The Assembly passed the ordinance on first reading last month but it failed on final reading by a 3-4 vote on March 22.
The public notice on the town hall meeting says its purpose is “to provide an opportunity for Sitkans to share ideas on regulating short-term rentals in a way that maintains economic opportunities, preserves neighborhood character and minimizes negative impacts on available housing.”
Knox said he and Mosher are looking for ideas and priorities of the community in order to address the “rapid proliferation” of short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods.
“There’s a huge problem of people being unable to find housing in Sitka right now, everything from rentals to buying,” Knox said. “People are very appreciative of the opportunity to be able to weigh in on the solutions and priorities in addressing this problem (at the town hall).”
He and Mosher proposed the moratorium ordinance in order to address the issue in a timely manner.
“We were concerned that there would be a rush of applications for short-term rental permits, which we are now seeing,” Knox said.
The Planning Commission has granted eight short-term rental permits in residential zones since the first of the year, and seven more are on the commission’s agenda for its meeting on Wednesday.
“That’s 15 even before we’re a quarter way through the year,” Knox said. “If we continue on this trend we’ll see far more than two dozen new conditional use permits before the year is over.”
The Planning Commission is divided on the issue, voting 2-2 on March 16 on whether to support the moratorium ordinance.
“Regardless of whether the ordinance passed we were going to (organize a town hall) right away,” Knox said. “We didn’t waste time.”
Mosher said there is data to show Sitka is losing housing through conversions from long-term to short-term rentals.
“There was a lull during COVID but it’s been picking up steam, and it’s continuing to pick up steam,” he said. “We’re hearing about it all the time – it’s not about affordable. They can’t find anything, any place to live at all.”
Planning Commission member Wendy Alderson said she will attend the meeting to hear what the public has to say.
“As a downtown resident and as a planning commissioner I have been approached often by friends and neighbors who are worried about the increase in short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods having an effect on accessible long-term housing for community members,” she said.
