Bahmad Vacation Rental [Screenshot]

The interests of a part-time homeowner were weighed against concerns about neighborhood and housing availability impacts when the Eureka Planning Commission approved a Myrtletown area vacation rental permit.

Approved at the commission’s Oct. 14 meeting, the permit allows conversion of a 1,175 square-foot single home at 1110 East Avenue into a short term rental.

Vacation rentals are allowed by right under the area’s zoning but a permit is required if there’s no onsite owner.

A representative for the applicant, Rende Bahmad, said Bahmad is only in town part-time due to working out of the country at times and doesn’t want to leave the house empty while away.

But public comment would portray the situation as profit-driven exploitation.

A nearby homeowner objected to the “conversion of homes in my neighborhood to absentee owner short term vacation rentals for profit”.

He said as properties are converted, the availability of long-term rental units decreases, making it harder for families to live in their own neighborhoods.

“To be blunt, vacation rentals are lucrative for property owners but they really only have negative impacts on the neighbors,” he continued. “Neither absentee owners nor their guests have any vested interest in the neighborhood and we’ll find ourselves living next to a property that is essentially a revolving door for strangers, leading to frustration and diminished quality of life.”

Another neighbor who lives “right behind” the project site raised traffic safety and parking issues.

“East Avenue is very crowded,” she said. “Almost nobody parks in driveways except for one or two people. Everybody else has their cars in the alley.”

No off-street parking is included or required for the project.

During their discussion, commissioners showed sympathy for the residents’ concerns but noted their limited ability to deny the permit under current regulations.

“I feel like some of the concerns I’ve heard tonight are similar to ones that we have heard for other vacation rentals and that this commission has also voiced,” said Commissioner Delores Freitas. “I know that we’ve already had a discussion at a higher level about vacation rentals in the community.”

Asked if regulations are in the process of being updated, Development Services Director Cristin Kenyon said vacation rental issues weren’t brought up during a City Council strategic visioning session and “they haven’t voiced it as a priority.”

But a zoning code update is in the works and Kenyon said she’ll add vacation rental standards to it.

A staff presentation included an estimate of vacation rentals at 1.5 percent of the city’s housing stock.

Commissioner Steve Lazar said the hearing’s public comments were “appropriate and similar to ones we’ve heard before” and while the commission’s leeway to deny the project is limited, there are options to improve it.

Noting that impacts on other property owners and infrastructure issues still have to be considered, Lazar said East Avenue is a narrow road and there’s room for creating a parking space within the project site.

After discussing it with Bahmad’s representative, the commission agreed to make development of the space a condition of permit approval.

The permit, including the parking space requirement, was unanimously approved.