Palmer Council discusses rentals as businesses

PALMER — Is renting out a room considered a business, and if so, should such a business be allowed in areas zoned residential within the City of Palmer? That topic took up more time than any other on the city council’s July 25 agenda.

After hearing from the public, councilmembers took no action on adopting Ordinance 17-011 amending the city municipal code’s section on business licenses.

The ordinance’s original intent was to remove the requirement of having to have a state business license to apply for a city license. But the addition of adding landlords who rent out rooms had some in the audience crying foul.

Several residents spoke out objecting to the fact that several business licenses were issued by the city to landlords of properties who are renting rooms in residential areas. City Manager Nathan Wallace said sales tax collection on such entities wasn’t the issue, but the city needed a mechanism to track such revenue generators. The idea tagging the landlord license into the existing business license seemed the best course and that both be handled similarly, as far as the city was concerned.

After hearing objections from several audience members—both via written letter and in person — the body discussed it among themselves.

Before getting too far into the discussion, Deputy Mayor Linda Combs moved to postpone action and move the topic to the group’s Aug. 22 meeting and also scheduled an additional public hearing on the topic. That opened the topic up for debate where council members discussed everything from description of living quarters, to bed and breakfasts, to language clarification.

“It would be nice if we had information on things brought up this evening,” said Councilman Brad Hanson. Colleague David Fuller noted bed and breakfasts, which are quickly gaining in popularity, need to be addressed.

City Attorney Michael Gatti got into the discussion referencing a letter from city resident Larry Hill asking for him to look into and address, in writing, several expressed concerns on the topic. While Gatti said he had great respect for Hill, he added that, as an attorney, he doesn’t get assigned work by Palmer citizens.

“I get assigned work by the city and its officials,” Gatti said. “You’re my clients,”

Discussion then changed to the ordinance itself. Because there were so many amendments and questions on the existing document, the council took no action on the original motion, leaving it dead. Councilman Richard Best said it would behoove the council not to try and do too many things at once. Fellow councilman Steve Carrington suggested the council take “…just bite-sized pieces in the future.”

The topic will come back up before the council at a later meeting.

City Clerk Norma Alley took a few minutes to review voting guidelines for this fall’s city elections. She said although the filing deadline to run for city council is today at 4 p.m., there is an extended write-in timeline which begins July 31 and runs through Sept. 28. Alley said those wishing to vote in October must be a registered voter residing in city limits by Sunday, Sept. 3. Because the deadline falls on a Sunday, Alley said she wanted to make sure people know that they can go online and register on the state’s website.

“We are happy to help people register in person,” Alley said. “Last year, I remember, we did not count a few votes because they were not (properly) registered.”

More information can be obtained on the city’s webpage cityofpalmer.org.