For now, street-level spaces in buildings on the Coupeville waterfront will continue to be reserved for commercial, rather than residential, uses.
Last week, the Coupeville Town Council decided not to further pursue code amendments allowing short-term rentals exclusively in over-water buildings in the area. A business owner proposed the changes in order to allow AirBnB or similar uses in the rear of Front Street businesses, which would continue to have retail or restaurants in the front.
In order to retain historical accuracy, the town code currently prohibits short-term, ground-floor rentals in all Front Street buildings located west of Main Street in the Historic Commercial Center Zone.
Over-water building owners indicated their support for a possible amendment when the issue was discussed during a July 1 Planning Commission meeting, but there was no consensus among business owners, according to the meeting’s minutes.
During the council’s July 22 meeting — last time the issue was discussed — two possible paths forward were presented to and discussed by the members.
Narrow revisions to the code could be implemented, which would allow short-term rentals in the “rear portion of over-water buildings due to their unique position within Penn Cove,” or wider revisions, permitting them in the “rear portion of any lot” within the zone of focus, according to materials provided to council.
Council members questioned the legality of allowing short-term rentals in over-water buildings but not landward buildings on the same street.
After conferring with legal staff, Community Planning Director Joshua Engelbrecht confirmed Tuesday that narrow revisions would be permissible so long as the comprehensive plan’s policies “reflect and justify” the “uniqueness” of over-water buildings necessitating special regulation.
“Currently, our comprehensive plan and the policies around economic stability don’t fully call out the North side of Front Street as needing specific attention,” Engelbrecht explained.
Although narrow code revisions seemed to be the council’s preferred course of action coming during meetings, that did not end up being the case.
Councilmember Pat Powell opposed narrow code revisions, arguing their benefit would be limited to very few people. Councilmember Rick Walti, far more supportive, pointed out that allowing short-term rentals in the back of buildings would be acceptable if the code’s purpose is to encourage commercial businesses in front-facing ground-floor spaces.
Mayor Molly Hughes sought clarity after a lengthy discussion. Asked by Hughes if they wanted to continue researching this topic, councilmembers Jackie Henderson, Michael C. Moore, Jenny Bright and Powell said “no;” Walti was the only “yes.”
“We’ve done a lot of work on this and it’s all been good work, but at some point, we have to just do it or not do it,” Hughes concluded.
