The Parkville board of aldermen tackled medical marijuana ordinances last week, paving the way for operations within the city.
At the Tuesday, Jan. 7 meeting, the board gave preliminary approval to amendments to municipal code setting up guidelines for the operation of medical marijuana facilities. Final approval is expected at the Jan. 21 meeting. Board member Brian Whitley recused himself from the discussion and vote, stating his employer prohibited his participation.
The city held public forums in October, with no public input on the proposed ordinances, which were based on similar ordinances in Gladstone, Riverside, Platte City and Liberty. In December the planning and zoning commission recommended approval of the proposal, creating a buffer zone of 1,000 feet between any medical marijuana facility and schools, daycare centers and churches. The amendments also include permitted zoning areas.
Director of community development Stephen Lachky presented the amended ordinances, noting that Main Street business owners were supportive of medical marijuana facilities downtown.
Aldermen questioned the ramifications of approval for the western end of the city, where undeveloped land exists that could later be used for a school. They also questioned if the codes would need to be further adjusted if recreational marijuana is legalized in Missouri.
Lachky said many of the finer points would depend on the legalization language and staff would need to investigate options at the time.
Chief of police Kevin Chrisman said he thinks Lachky has done a good job preparing the city for legalization and noted that every state with legalized recreational marijuana started out with medical marijuana.
“It’s coming; we just have to be prepared,” Chrisman said.
Concerns that medical license holders could light up at a city event such as Parkville Days were quashed by city administrator Joe Parente, who clarified state law prohibits public consumption of the medical marijuana.
SHORT-TERM VACATION RENTALS
The board postponed additional discussion of an amendment to city code creating provisions and guidelines for short-term residential rentals, such as those typically brokered via Airbnb or Vrbo.
For about a year, the city has considered tackling regulation of the growing vacation rental industry.
Parkville has no hotel/motel operations within the city limits and its current guidelines for small inns and bed and breakfast operations don’t cover the typical short-term rental.
The proposed amendment creates another category covering short-term rentals, which would be allowed in the residential and commercial districts. The category covers application and permit requirements, regulations, time frames and ownership requirements. Short-term rentals are defined as renting for less than 30 days and conducted by a third-party platform or network. The owner must occupy the property for 270 days per year and no more than eight guests may stay at each rental. Also, the regulations of a homeowners association take precedent over the city’s decision to issue a permit.
Alderman Doug Wylie pointed out that a property owner could live out of state and opt to rent a home they never live in. Other aldermen questioned why the city needed to regulate how often the property was occupied and by whom. Property owners could rent several spaces in many different places to generate income.
Alderman Phil Wassmer said that allowing people to gobble up cheap rental property encouraged slum lords, but that a short-term rental was the antithesis of this as the owners wish to get good reviews through the brokerage sites to draw more guests. According to his research, short-term rentals improve property values because owners fix up the spaces to keep ratings high.
He also found the 30-day stipulation odd as he knew a family who was living in a short-term rental property for two months pending a permanent move to Denver, Colo.
Lachky clarified that rentals would require a conditional use permit and the feedback of surrounding neighbors would help influence whether or not a short-term use was feasible in the area. Additionally, the permit could be suspended if a situation arose and problems developed at the vacation rental.
Resident Elaine Kellerman, who has attended the previous public forums and been in contact with city staff since, spoke out. Kellerman is in opposition to short-term rentals in Parkville.
She wondered why the city hadn’t outright banned short-term rentals from the start.
Mayor Nan Johnston said the reasoning was that as the deals are brokered online, the city would be unable to stop them and would have little recourse to deal with problem rentals. Cities across the country have encountered problems with regulating the hard-to-track online rentals.
Having a special use permit in place would allow the city to revoke that permit and pursue other options.
Thousand Oaks resident Christopher Whalen said the city had not adequately addressed neighborhoods such as his which straddled the city and unincorporated Platte County.
The homeowners association had not yet banned short-term rentals. He believed associations such as his needed more time to update their own policies before the city makes its move.