Friday, March 29, 2024

Chelan County Sheriff Burnett: Short Term Rental rules will only be enforced during normal work hours … for now

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MANSON – At a recent Zoom meeting of the Manson Community Council (March 16), Chelan County Sheriff Brian Burnett explained that when the time comes to start enforcing Short Term Rental (STR) rules, it will be handled by a force of “code enforcement” sheriff’s office officers who will be on duty Monday through Friday, during normal working hours.

Burnett went on to say that these officers must undergo similar police academy training on certain subjects like use-of-force, firearms and driving before they will be allowed on the streets to enforce STR issues. This learning curve is expected to last four weeks, but some applicants may take less time if they are already previously experienced law enforcement officers.

Once these criteria are met, candidates for the three positions would also be required to learn code enforcement. Burnett expects the county offices responsible for STR rules will be teaching staff the new rules. That would mean Chelan County Community Development staff.

Burnett said there would be one position (new hire) for Leavenworth, one for Chelan and one supernumerary as in an “at need” or “on call” basis.

Normal working hours in this case would mirror any other government agency’s 8-5 or thereabouts office hours. Burnett said it may become more flexible in the future and might even be subject to evening and weekend shifts within the code enforcement department.

As of right now, Burnett is asking for some “slack” as the entire concept is a fairly new one in the realm of county law enforcement and he sounded sure that minor tweaks will be an ongoing chore before the kinks are ironed out, hopefully by the fall season.

As far as the expected deployment of these officers, Burnett stated it would be around mid-May to early June.

He said he still needs to work with his staff to formulate a job description, policies and procedures as well as deal with sworn and administrative personnel and their respective unions.

The codes are due to be officially on the books around April 5, in time for tourist season.  Burnett said there was a distinct difference between the expected Memorial Day crowd and the July Fourth tourists.

He noted the 4th tourists were perhaps a bit more rambunctious, but the code enforcers would already have boots on the ground, and with a little mud on them, by that time.

Burnett said the Leavenworth/Plain and Chelan/Manson areas are the two parts of the county expected to receive the most attention when STR rules start to apply.

He said most if not all county residents, live in Commissioner Bob Bugert’s (Leavenworth) district or, in the case of Lake Chelan, in Commissioner Tiffany Gering’s district.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, as gauged by the reaction of MCC members, was the fact that these code enforcers will not be available 24/7 like the normal sheriff’s office patrol deputies.

Burnett told them that in the meantime, complaints should be called-in to a non-emergency administrative phone voice mail for action beginning the following workday morning.

So, if you are complaining about loud noise or parking on a Saturday night, it isn’t going to be handled by the Chelan County Sheriff Office (CCSO) department of code enforcement until Monday, depending on where your complaint might fall in the order of complaints received.

However, if you hear gunshots or see acts of violence or public safety concerns, then call the regular Rivercom emergency dispatch center and a deputy will be sent to that location asap.

Burnett said his office is experienced in serving warrants and legal notices and the like, but not in the area of STR’s.

He clearly made sure the MCC members and a couple dozen citizen listeners understood that there was a huge difference between a criminal act and a code violation. The latter may be subjected to a fine, like a barking dog complaint, if the issue isn’t corrected. After the initial response by the officer, a $75 fine on second infraction or $150 on third violation may result in an issuing of an order to appear in court. Details not yet set.

Burnett said the regular CCSO patrol cars would be painted in silver and have lettering on the car stating: “Code Enforcement.”

The enforcement officers would be armed and in uniform and that is why they must undergo police academy training, he said.

About 33 people, including MCC, staff and invited guests, attended the meeting.

They were also witness to Burnett’s description of taking on this code enforcement challenge when he said he didn’t really jump at the chance to take on this responsibility, but realized it was the best thing to do for the citizens of Chelan County.

“I try to be a team player” with the close cooperation of the Commissioners and the Community Development Department,” he said.

He then asked the MCC and the entire STR-affected area to give him “a little bit of grace and patience” as he was hoping to iron out the kinks by a year from now, once tactics and policies are worked out.

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