By Adam Pagnucco.
County Executive Marc Elrich has written a memo to the county council requesting that they hold off on voting for a pending bill. The reason? Elrich claims that the new bill in combination with others recently passed would overload the county departments responsible for implementing them.
Elrich refers to three bills:
Bill 6-23, a bill introduced by Council Member Will Jawando to regulate the renting out of pools, backyards and other parts of private property by owners at an hourly rate. This bill has not yet received a vote at full council and Elrich is requesting a delay. It has an accompanying zoning text amendment.
Bill 15-23, a rent control bill passed by the council in July. This bill was a top priority of Elrich’s and he has asked to fund its implementation by tapping the county’s reserves.
Bill 22-23, a bill introduced at Elrich’s request that would tighten regulations on short term rentals of residential properties. It has an accompanying zoning text amendment. The bill has passed through a joint meeting of three council committees but has not received a vote at full council at this writing.
Elrich believes that the county does not currently have the capacity to implement all three bills at once. The irony is that, as noted above, two of the three bills to which he refers were priorities of his administration. Following is the text of a memo he wrote to the council on October 24.
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I am writing to request the Council delay consideration on Bill 6-23; Housing – Sharing Economy Rental and Zoning Text Amendment 23-01, Accessory Residential Uses – Sharing Economy Rental. Establishing a regulatory structure for permitting the sharing economy is a new responsibility for County government that must be carefully considered in light of the existing regulatory needs we are working to meet.
The Office of the Licensure and Regulatory Services within the Department of Health and Human Services is currently managing a heavy workload and is not able to meet the demands of this bill without additional resources and personnel as outlined in the Fiscal Impact Statement. As noted in the FIS, the workload impacts of this bill are not entirely known.
The Department of Housing and Community Affairs is currently focused on implementing the requirements of Bill 15-23 Landlord-Tenant Relations – Rent Stabilization, planning for the anticipated transfer of administration over short-term residential rentals from DHHS as imposed by Bill 22-23, Transient Lodging Facilities – Short-Term Residential Rental; and the ongoing demands of code compliance.
As discussed in a joint committee review of Bill 22-23, our capacity to license, inspect, and enforce must be sufficient to the task. Given all of the new and evolving demands articulated above, I therefore request that the Council delay its consideration of Bill 6-23.
I appreciate your consideration of this request.
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If the regulators are feeling overloaded, imagine how those who are regulated feel.
We shall see how the council responds to Elrich’s request. His memo is reprinted below.
