The freeze on historic district Daufuskie rentals may be thawing
Daufuskie homeowners looking to rent their properties to vacationers have been forced out of business for what feels like forever. It has actually been nearly two and a half years of empty rooms and missed rent checks while the county council kicked the can around on the question of permitting. The ability of these historic district homeowners to earn back their investments got stuck in the spin cycle of wonky code and ordinance technicalities.
At long last, there is hope on the horizon for these homeowners, the county council is poised to allow rentals to resume.
But homeowners may need a degree in municipal ordinance reading to navigate the solution offered by the council.
The code changes have been swirling in controversy since December. The debate is on which of two types of permits should be required for short-term rentals (STRs). – the simpler conditional-use or the tougher-to-obtain special-use permit. Each one require two very different investments of time to secure.
What’s the difference between a ‘conditional-use’ and ‘special-use’ permit
At its core, a conditional-use permit means a homeowner needs to meet established conditions, fill out a form online and await approval. The difference with a special-use permit is the homeowner on Daufuskie would need to get on the ferry twice, show up at the County Administration Center in Beaufort and sit through two meeting to be approved - and then get back on the ferry the next morning.
In order to be approved for a STR, island homeowners will have to go through the special-use permitting process, the same process that all other unincorporated parts of the county must go through. However, those operating Daufuskie STRs before they were banned two and half years ago will be grandfathered in.
There may be a short reprieve
But, there’s a one-time honeymoon period. A homeowner with a property currently meeting all conditions can apply during the 60 days after the ordinance goes into law. With the expected timeline, county approval would come after the third reading on July 10.
The 60-day grace period was an amendment to the codes by Councilperson Mark Lawson, who’s represented Daufuskie for five years. It serves as a sort of compromise for those who have been waiting for two plus years to be able to run rental property.
“Anyone that’s there currently is able to take advantage of getting their permit, which is kind of like the conditional-use,” Lawson told the Island Packet / Beaufort Gazette. “We tried to be fair to both sides.”
However, only those who have already constructed homes will benefit from the grace period.
During the meeting Lawson mentioned the difficultly in finding solutions that everyone can be satisfied with.
“These people want red and these people want yellow and then when you compromise, you give them orange and nobody’s happy,” he said.
Lawson told the newspapers that he hopes this provision will take care of everyone who is already on the island.
“It allows anybody and everybody right now to be treated as what we would call a conditional-use and get permit immediately,” he said.
“Walking away from that meeting I was fairly disappointed,” said Yarborough. “But I think there is some leeway in them coming up with a compromise.”
“It’s like special use with lipstick on a pig,” he added.
But those who supported special-use may be more satisfied with the council’s “orange.”
“I’m satisfied, it’s remarkably close to what the Daufuskie Island Council proposed,” said Island Council Chair Roger Pinckney. “I’m entirely gratified and I want to thank the County Council for making a good decision.”
Pinckney also told the newspapers he thought the 60 day grace period was a good idea.
Looking forward
But the dust isn’t settled as there are still two readings where the ordinance can be further amended. In addition, at the meeting council discussed looking to create a new STR process for the entire county.
“I think that we need to look at and having a separate program and that might change how that permitting is done,” Lawson said. “It’d be something more of a streamlined process.”
Yarborough says there are still a few things he’d like to see either added to the current ordinance or addressed in the future rules.
One is creating more precise language guaranteeing that people can attend the required meetings during the special-use process via zoom. County Administrator Eric Greenway has said that would be the case at multiple meetings, but written language would further strengthen that promise.
Secondly, Yarborough was concerned with language in the ordinance which says the Zoning Board of Appeals can “establish an appropriate rental limit as a condition of approval,” which Yarborough considered to be a cap on STRS, which he says no one the island wanted from the beginning.
Finally Yarborough said he’d like to see an administrative process for revoking permits, one more in line with how they are handled in Bluffton and Hilton Head Island
The ordinance will have second reading on June 26 and final reading on July 10 assuming readings are not delayed.
