Wenatchee World, November 14, 2022
By Oscar Rodriguez

Chelan County has denied at least 62 short-term rental applications since their new code was adopted more than a year ago and seven are under appeal in court. A land use attorney believes the county is not applying the code fairly.

Clay Gatens with Gatens Green Weidenbach PLLC represents the seven short-term rental applicants. He said in an interview last week that the number of land use related lawsuits the county is facing is irregular for counties.

“Chelan County is the odd one out,” he said. “If there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

The county disagrees.

The county passed new regulations in July 2021 for homes rented out for 30 days or less. Under the new code, short-term rental owners need to apply for a permit as an existing or new rental business.

Chelan County has so far processed 776 applications — this includes every application that has been approved, denied or canceled. As of Nov. 10, the county does not have an exact count on the number of denied appeals. And several more applications are being processed.

Sixty-two permit applications had been denied as of July, said Kirsten Ryles, Chelan County short-term rental manager, during a commissioner’s meeting six months ago.

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