After shaping the rules surrounding short-term residential rentals for months, Kalispell City Council members said they’re almost ready to create a policy to regulate vacation rental operations.

In a work session Monday night, the council met with city planning and zoning officials for the third time to discuss how to respond to short-term rentals, known as “vacation rentals by owner.”

The city’s current zoning rules effectively prohibit property owners from providing the rentals. But according to planning staffers, recent estimates from web-based tracking services found 102 short-term rentals listed on sites such as Airbnb in the greater Kalispell area, including 50 within city limits.

Council member Phil Guiffrida said the growth of short-term rentals means the council has to acknowledge the need for a new ordinance.

“I could very easily sit here and just be furious on how we got here, and I am to a point,” Guiffrida said. “But the fact is we’re here and we need to move forward.”

Fred Zavodny of Village Greens was one of several residents who asked the city to forbid short-term rentals in established residential zones.

“Permitting VRBOs in established residential zones is the same as changing the rules in the middle of the game,” Zavodny said. “I don’t know of anyone who would want new neighbors every couple of days.”

As currently proposed, the zoning amendment would allow vacation rentals in residential areas as long as the owner obtains a conditional use permit by getting a safety inspection from the building department. The owner would also need a state public accommodation license and register for state bed tax purposes.

City Manager Doug Russell said owners would be required to get an annual renewal, meaning going through another health and safety inspection, reverifying tax registration and paying a $75 fee — the same fee attached to a residential-based conditional use permit.

The fee would help the city maintain oversight of new rentals by investing in a web tracking system, which Russell said would cost $2,000 to $3,000 a year.

He said to balance city consistency and community concerns about the impact of short-term rentals, the draft includes density regulations and requires owners to be responsible to provide access to the minimal number of parking units required in their zone.

Russell said whether the rules go into effect is up to the council.

“I think that’s mainly something you guys need to discuss … how much of a regulation you think is appropriate with the level of use that we have out there.”

Vanessa Ross said the parking requirements would hurt her business at the multiple properties she uses as short-term rentals. She said the majority of her renters come in one car with an occasional guest. She said people concerned about the impact of vacation rentals often don’t understand the business.

“The people that own these houses, we supply them with our own personal things, which may be inherited from a grandfather,” she said. “So we trust the people who come into our home to treat them as their own home, and we’ve never had any issue whatsoever.”

Mayor Mark Johnson said the fabric of community neighborhoods is his main concern.

“But I don’t want to over-regulate as well,” Johnson said. “Looking at the question of how we got here … it’s free-market economy. And I never want to step in the way of free market economy until it starts to be an abuse on the system.”

As council members continued to debate the right level of regulations and wording that could prevent unforeseen consequences, Planning and Building Director Tom Jentz reminded everyone that the ordinance could be amended.

“You guys are creating policy,” Jentz said. “Coming forth with the best shot we have, getting something on the books ... let’s try to solve what we have, live with it and see how it goes. We will come back and tell you if it’s going well or not.”

City staffers will continue to adjust the ordinance before bringing it before the council again.

DURING Monday’s meeting, the council also asked city staffers to update the city’s disturbing-the-peace ordinance. The topic first came up during a regular meeting when a citizen complained about loud construction noises early in the morning.

Council members discussed attaching time components to the ordinance to have clearer rules, But after reviewing the ordinance, they decided its wording was out of date and needed to be amended before they make additions.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at [email protected].