The Legal and Finance Committee on Nov. 26 voted to forward Ordinance No. 6698 — an amendment to Title 17 defining and regulating vacation homes — to the full City Council without recommendation.

Councilman Stephen Tamang, who introduced the measure during the meeting, said the ordinance aims to “have a fair, balanced approach” that gives legitimate operators a legal pathway while offering neighbors an enforcement mechanism. Tamang said local registration would allow the city to require contact information for a 24‑hour local contact, confirm life‑safety inspections through the state and create a complaint process.

Advisory‑committee members and public commenters urged support. Mike Derby, who said he served on the advisory committee, told the committee the proposal “is a very good plan and would ask for your support,” and said a neighborhood notification requirement he had hoped for did not survive the final draft. Pat Roseland, also an advisory‑committee member, said the ordinance should be stronger but praised the work and urged the committee to send it to council.

Staff and committee discussion identified the ordinance’s key features: an annual local registration with a fee under $100 to cover monitoring software; a signed affidavit that the property meets applicable requirements so the city need not conduct separate safety inspections beyond the state’s; a six‑month grace period for operators to come into compliance; a limit of two people per bedroom plus two sofa sleepers; two required off‑street parking spaces; and a conditional‑use requirement for homes with more than five bedrooms.

Community Development Director Vicky Fisher told the committee the city found that “less than 1% inside the city limits have secured the state license,” and that a sample of listings showed about 25% listed as not owner‑occupied. Fisher said the ordinance is intended to be simple, to reward compliant operators, and to allow the city to gather better data on housing impacts.

On the occupancy rule, Tamang said committee members discussed exemptions for small children but that the committee did not adopt a child‑exemption provision. The committee motion to forward the ordinance to the City Council without recommendation carried; no formal roll‑call tally was recorded in committee minutes.

The ordinance will next appear on the full City Council agenda, where council members can adopt, amend or reject it.