David Harm, City of La Crosse Cashier Supervisor, was invited to speak on the
topic of room tax and short-term housing. Harm informed the Commission that
the City collects room tax from three marketplace providers including Airbnb,
Homeaway, and Expedia. Harm said marketplace providers are regulated on a
state level, which is different than hotels. Harm stated that the state form does
not specify addresses or how many short-term rentals are included in the
payment. Harm stated that marketplace providers make up for 12% of all room
tax the City collects annually. Staff added that other communities they had
talked to had ordinances in place to ensure that they were collecting the room
tax necessary and not necessarily because they had issues with short-term
rentals. Council President Janssen stated that a policy would help clarify which
short-term rentals are self-reporting or using marketplace providers to report
their revenue. Mayor Reynolds asked Commission Members what the goal of
an ordinance for short-term rentals is. Jim Bagniewski stated he thinks there
should be some level of registration for short-term rentals. Will Kratt said it
would be a good goal to have staff monitor at the state level since
municipalities ability to regulate is limited. CM Kahlow said those who she
talked to wanted to gather data so the City knows where the short-term rentals
are and how many there are by some form of registration. CM Sleznikow, CM
Mindel, and CP Janssen all stated they agree there should be some type of
registration for short-term rentals. Staff said they will start working on putting
together a short-term rental registration but would need a couple months to
coordinate.
January 2023- Comprehensive Plan Update.
4.
Staff stated they attached the end-of-the-year report from their consultant to the
agenda. Staff said they are wrapping up the first phase of community
engagement and moving to phase two. Staff stated they are going to all the
Neighborhood Association meetings within the next couple months to talk
about future land use and zoning. Staff said they are hoping to have a final
document of the Comprehensive Plan in mid to late summer.
Updates: Accessory Dwelling Units, River Point District, Neighborhood Associations
5.
Staff stated that they are working on getting community feedback on accessory
dwelling units (ADU) and will come back to the commission with a
comprehensive response to all the questions they heard. Staff said River Point
District is currently getting sanitary, sewer, and storm infrastructure as well as
roads. They said community members would start to see development this
spring. Staff said they are trying to finalize the plan development document
that outlines the design standards, process, and zoning for the site. Linda Lee
asked why River Point District design standards are different than the city's
design standards. Staff said the design standards were created by the
Redevelopment Authority and that they wanted to hold the development to a
higher standard since this development has been a long time coming.
Commission Members provided updates on activities their neighborhoods are
involved in.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:56pm.
Notice is further given that members of other governmental bodies may be present at the
above scheduled meeting to gather information about a subject over which they have
decision-making responsibility.
