Short Term Rentals | Seward, AK

Additional restrictions apply to residential zoning districts! Please contact Community Development to verify your zoning district.

Seward Zoning Map

To apply for a short-term rental permit, click on the link on the right-hand side under "OpenGov Portal". This will take you to the City of Seward's OpenGov Portal.

What to Expect

The following information will be asked on the online application:

Short term rental’s physical address
Kenai Peninsula Borough (KPB) parcel number
Property Owner/Property Manager information
Primary place of residence
Zoning District
Number of rooms being rented
Number of parking spaces provided

For compliance purposes, this online application will now ask for the following information:

Property type (“Single-Family”, “Duplex”, “Tri-Plex”, “Four-Plex”, “Five-Plex”, “Townhouse”, or “Other”)
Listing link for rental (This is the advertisement information that you post online, i.e. Airbnb, Vrbo, Expedia. If you post the advertisement for your rental unit on more than one website, you only need to provide one listing link/URL address).
Bed Tax Registration (Questions asked include information about person responsible for filing the tax return. If you have a bed tax registration, you simply have to answer ‘Yes’. You do not need to know your registration number to submit this application.)

Additional Paperwork

The following paperwork will need to be submitted with all new applications:

Site Plan / Parking Plan (SCC 15.10.215(b))
- The Site Plan / Parking Plan should include the property's address, KPB parcel number, and Zoning District.
- A dimensioned site plan of property showing location of all buildings and parking spaces. Parking Plan should show indication of total parking spaces provided and required by City Code.
Floor Plan (SCC 15.10.215(b))
Proof of Commercial Insurance (The document uploaded must show the policy holder's name, physical address of the short term rental, and coverage of short term rentals or nightly lodging. No specific coverage amount is required. Providing homeowner’s insurance does not meet this requirement.)
- On January 9, 2023, City Council passed Ordinance 2022-016 which now requires short term rental owners to provide proof of commercial insurance for their rental units.

All short term rentals need to have 1 parking space per guest room that is located on the property. If the rental is owner-occupied, then you need to have the required spaces for the principal dwelling unit plus 1 parking space per guest room.

For owner-occupied short-term rentals, the property will need the number of parking spaces specified below plus 1 parking space per guest room used for nightly rentals:

Single-family: 2 parking spaces
Duplex: 2 parking spaces per dwelling unit (4 total)
Multi-family: 2 parking spaces per dwelling unit plus ¹/₂space for every unit larger than 2 bedrooms or greater than 1,000 square feet in size

Life Safety Inspection

Each short term rental property must go through a Life Safety Inspection. The inspection is conducted by the Building/Fire Department and must be scheduled by calling the department at 907-224-4036. Inspections can be scheduled Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 11:30am and from 1:15pm to 4:00pm. To prepare for your inspection, here is the Life Safety Inspection checklist that you can download or print to look over.

Fees

As in previous years, the following fees must be paid:

Business License fee: $30
Life Safety Inspection fee: $45 per property

On January 9, 2023, City Council passed Resolution 2023-006 which now requires a Short Term Rental Permit fee to be paid:

Short Term Rental Permit fee: $50 per separate rental unit
- A rental unit is defined as each separate space that can be booked by different parties at the same time.

To pay your fees, you can do this online by signing into your account on OpenGov and paying with a credit card or at the Utilities counter via cash or check. Fees are non-refundable.

Workflow

Here is what the workflow will look like for applying for a Short Term Rental Permit:

1. Apply for a business license.

2. The short term rental application is integrated with the business license so you will fill out the application while applying for the business license.

3. Pay the business license fee ($30), the life safety inspection fee ($45 per property), and the short term rental permit fee ($50 per separate rental unit) either online through OpenGov via credit card or at the Utilities counter with cash or check. These fees are non-refundable.

4. Once you have submitted your application, several departments will review your application to make sure it is in compliance with City Code and Bed tax.

5. After you are approved through the initial review, you will be able to schedule a Life Safety Inspection with the Building/Fire department at 907-224-4036.

6. If the short term rental property passes inspection, then your application will be sent to the City Clerk for a final review.

7. After the final review, you should be able to download and print at home your Short Term Rental Permit to display at your short term rental.

Additional Information

Please be aware that a business license WILL NOT be issued until all requirements of the short term rental permit application have been met and approved.

City of Seward business licenses and short term rental permits are valid for one year, January 1st through December 31st. Each of these items must be renewed on an annual basis in order to operate in the City of Seward. Renewal applications can be submitted as early as October of the current year for the following permit year.

Advertisements for the short term rental shall include the Short Term Rental Permit number.

How to Apply

Please navigate to the City Clerk's webpage, Business Licenses, and read through their information on how to apply for a business license. Clicking the light blue "Online Business License Portal" button will redirect you to the OpenGov portal where you can start applying for your business license and short term rental permit at the same time. If you would like to go straight to the portal, please click here.

How to Renew

When it is time to renew your business license and short term rental permit(s), you should receive email notifications that it is time to renew your license/permit if you are the applicant on the previous application. You can navigate to your renewal by either clicking the link in the email notification or by logging into the City of Seward's OpenGov portal to get to your account. Once you are in your account, navigate to the top right corner and click on "My Account". Applications that are up for renewal are under "Action Required" and will stay there until the application is renewed or until the renewal window lapses. If you start a renewal application but do not want to submit it right away, you can always save it as a draft if you need to come back to it. The renewal draft application should be saved under, "Applications", in the left pane of your "My Account" main page.

FAQs

Who do I contact to schedule a Life Safety Inspection?

Do I need insurance to operate a short-term rental?

I am using Airbnb and/or Vrbo to list my short term rental. Does their insurance cover the insurance requirements for my short term rental application?

STR owners and operators can use the coverage of Airbnb or Vrbo as valid insurance. However, the burden lies on the business owner to provide the City with the agreement or contract with the organization that confirms the policy holder name, the location that is being insured, specific rental coverage (i.e. not homeowner's insurance), and limits of the coverage. We require this uniformly, no matter whom you choose for your provider.

I want to renew my permit. Do I need to submit a new application to renew my permit on OpenGov?

I am a property manager. How should I apply for my client's short term rental property permit on OpenGov?

There are two options for managing an application on OpenGov. There is the Applicant who manages, edits and renews the application. This is the main individual who gets contacted about the application with email notifications (i.e. apply for renewals) and can add or remove Guest Users.

The Guest User, when added by an Applicant, can receive notifications about an application, make credit card payments, and leave comments on the application. They essentially have the same view of an application as an Applicant does after the application is submitted. However, Guest Users cannot invite additional Guests and they will be removed from an application when the application is renewed. Guest Users are also not notified if an application needs to be renewed. If the Guest User does not have an OpenGov account, they will need to create one to have access to the application.

As for switching an Applicant on the application, you will need to contact Community Development at 907-224-4049 or email one of the staff members to start that process. Community Development will need confirmation from both parties agreeing to switch the Applicant from one to the other.

What if I own a duplex or triplex, etc?

In Residential zoning districts (Rural Residential, Single Family Residential, Two Family Residential, Multi-Family Residential, or Urban Residential) you may only use 50% of the units for short-term rentals with one of the units being your (the owner's) primary residence.

Duplex: owner must live in one unit, may STR the other unit

Triplex: owner must live in one unit, may STR only one other unit

Fourplex: owner must live in one unit, may STR only two other units

Fiveplex: owner must live in one unit, may STR only two other units

In Commercial zoning districts (Office Residential, Auto Commercial, Central Business, or Harbor Commercial) you may rent out all units (up to 5) in a duplex or multi-family structure for short-term rentals.

How many rooms can I rent out?

In Residential zoning districts (Rural Residential, Single Family Residential, Two Family Residential, Multi-Family Residential, Urban Residential), you may only rent up to 50% of the bedrooms in your home with the max number being 3 total bedrooms. If you have an odd number of bedrooms, the 50% is rounded down (i.e. if you have 3 total bedrooms, you may only rent out 1 bedroom. If you have 5 bedrooms, you may only rent out 2 bedrooms.)

In Commercial zoning districts (Office Residential, Auto Commercial, Central Business, Harbor Commercial) you may only rent up to 5 bedrooms. If you are renting out more than 5 bedrooms you are considered a Hotel/Motel and will need to pass a Life Safety Inspection as such.

Does a long-term renter qualify as 'owner-occupied'?

Where can I operate a whole house short-term rental?

You may only operate a non-owner occupied (whole house) short term rental in a Commercial zoning district. These are Office Residential, Auto Commercial, Central Business, and Harbor Commercial.

A short-term rental must be owner occupied in all Residential zoning districts; Urban Residential, Multi-Family Residential, Two Family Residential, Single Family Residential, and Rural Residential. This means, the owner of the dwelling structure, the individual whose name is on the title of the property, must live in the dwelling, and only 50% of the bedrooms up to 3 may be used for nightly rentals.

Can I operate a short term rental on my boat in the Seward Boat Harbor?

Can I advertise without having an active permit?