12/8/2020 Council Workshop Recap
Hello, and to those who celebrate, happy Hanukkah! I wish everyone a joyous holiday season.
This week we had a Council workshop.
Here is where you can view the meeting minutes.
We started early to interview applicants for boards and commissions.
During the “Correspondence and Council Comments” section, we had a number of different comments from Council. The topics included: Thanks to the Sorgi family for the wonderful fireworks display, the mailbox replacement program for those whose mailboxes are damaged by the snow plows, the plow contractor used in the River Oaks Neighborhood, the utility billing changes, a memorial to honor Vincent Baran, the performance of the hybrid police vehicles as well as the design/color of our police vehicles, and thanks to city staff for hard work on various initiatives.
There were two notable items of discussion, they are as outlined below.
Proposed Consent Agenda
Item G. TMP-5233 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT THE STATE ROUTE 91 SOUTH SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (PID 106445) PLAN TO THE HUDSON PLANNING COMMISSION FOR REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION PURSUANT TO CHARTER SECTION 9.02.
Brief Description: The SR 91 South Safety Improvement Project design limits are on SR 91 (S. Main Street) from Barlow Road to the Stoney Hill Drive intersection. The project includes widening of the roadway for bike lanes and new center turn lane. Per the City Charter, Section 9.02 - Planning Commission - Powers and Duties, the street widening project shall be submitted to the Planning Commission for report and recommendation.
My take: There is really no “take” here, we simply have to send this project to Planning Commission because the city is changing the road configuration by adding a lane. This is not for approval of the project, contract, etc.
Proposed Legislation
The next item we discussed is actually two agenda items:
Item A. 20-145 AN ORDINANCE PLACING A MORATORIUM ON THE OPERATION OF ANY SHORT TERM RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE RENTALS IN THE CITY OF HUDSON; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
Brief Description: This Ordinance establishes a 180-day temporary moratorium prohibiting the operation of short term (less than 30 days) residential real estate rentals (“STRs”) within the City of Hudson. The period of the moratorium will permit the City to conduct community outreach, study, formulate, and draft regulations with respect to STRs.
AND
Item C. 20-160 AN ORDINANCE ENACTING A NEW CHAPTER 876, “SHORT-TERM RENTAL OPERATIONS,” OF THE BUSINESS REGULATION CODE; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
Brief Description: A permit program has been drafted for the regulation of short-term rentals within the City of Hudson.
My take: This is a complex issue. If this issue is of interest to you, this is definitely a meeting you should watch. If you do, make yourself some popcorn, we talk about it for quite a bit and really dig into the nitty gritty. To summarize, the City put together legislation that would require anyone operating a short-term rental (STR) to obtain and maintain a permit. This is a business regulation, so a lot of our conversation centered around whether or not this is the best approach or if the better approach would be to accomplish this same thing via the zoning code. The legislation also outlines topics such as the application fee, circumstances and reasons for revocation and/or suspension of permits, penalties, and the appeals processes in the event that a revocation, suspension or permit denial occurs. Another point mentioned by several Council members was the desire to have citizen input (public notice and public hearings were one specific method mentioned). Public input is very important to me and was one of the first notes I made when reading through this, so I was grateful to hear others bring it up early in the conversation. It was nice that going into the conversation so many of us were on the same page and aligned on this complex issue.
Something important that I do want to point out is the history of a property or STR owner/operator would be taken into account when applying for a permit. I was happy that this is going to be a consideration because owner/operators whose property have a history of causing issues should be held accountable and not permitted to continue to jeopardize the safety and security of their neighborhood.
I won’t get too much more into the weeds here because after Council’s feedback, I anticipate city staff will come back with some changes the next time we see this.
On the topic of the moratorium, many on Council voiced that they are not in favor of this route. I personally am against implementing a moratorium because, while I still want to protect the residents of Hudson from ever experiencing anything like this ever again, I also do not want to impact the livelihood of anyone who relies on this for income. It is worth noting that we have several other STRs in Hudson that have never caused any problems and offer benefit to the community.
Striking the right balance between protecting residents and supporting businesses here is key. I want you all to know that we are working hard to do this and we are taking it very seriously.
As far as the workshop goes, this was the bulk of our conversation. Because this is a workshop and no real action was taken, only conversation, I’ll save some of these other agenda items to discuss following Council meetings where we address or vote on them. Don’t hesitate to reach out regarding any of the other items I did not cover!
Before you go, I do want to let you know I am planning an At-Large Forum for sometime in early 2021. No date has been set, but I am working on it. I hope you all will join me to help me set priorities for 2021 and to begin to build a relationship of trust and open communication.
Have questions? Want to share with me your thoughts on any of the agenda items or issues listed above? As always, I would love to have a conversation! Email me directly at nkowalski@hudson.oh.us.
