Pullman City Council voted to pass the exemption for short-term rentals

With council members Tawny Szumals and Eric Fejeran absent (CM Trevor Vance attended remotely), the Pullman City Council voted to pass the two bedroom exemption to its short-term rental regulations. The city also received an update on the restoration to the iconic arched Pine Street Plaza Pedestrian Bridge after it was damaged due to flooding in March; along with the adoption of the transportation and capital improvement plan, as well as some minor code amendments.

After a contentious meeting last week, the exemption for two bedroom (or smaller) short-term rentals passed in a 5-0 vote over the objections from Community Development director RJ Lott and his staff. The exemptions will be granted to an owner occupied property is leasing out two or less bedrooms, with ten or less occupants, then the safety regulations required by Pullman’s code do not apply. This exemption will now go into effect on July 1st, 2026.

The staff’s concerns center around the fact that it will be practically impossible to verify that the property is actually owner occupied and therefore if the property actually qualifies for the exemption.

Despite Fejeran’s comments last week, there was no carve out in the exemption to ensure the regulations regarding emergency lighting, fire extinguishers, and evacuation maps are required in all short-term rentals. Yet there were no questions or concerns from any of the council members prior to the vote.

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An update on the restoration of the Pine Street Plaza Pedestrian Bridge

By far, the majority of the council meeting was a briefing on the restoration of the Pine Street Plaza Pedestrian Bridge over Paradise Creek. The 20 year old bridge floated off of its abutments on March 14th, 2026 at 12:15 AM, per its design.

Unfortunately, the unprecedented nature of this high water event meant that the bridge drifted further down the creek than it had in the past which put an immense amount of stress on its tether. The strain from the tether damaged the north abutment’s anchor and broke the concrete around it, which has made it impossible to reset the bridge deck; the good news is that the initial reviews of the bridge itself show that it’s in good shape. Further inspections are planned to confirm the condition of the bridge deck as Pullman moves forward with its next steps.

The staff has started to explore several options for what’s next for the pedestrian bridge.

Repair the damage to the abutment and reset the existing bridge on its original footings
Retrofit the existing bridge with a lifting mechanism for use prior to expected high water events
Permanently replace the existing bridge with a new design
Permanently raise the elevation of the existing bridge which would require improvements to insure accessibility

Options 2 – 4 are the most expensive as they would require reworks to the existing design along with permitting and construction cost. There are state and federal funding tools available that the staff is also starting to explore, but they’d probably also need to amend the Capital Improvement Plan in order to fund the potential projects.

Right now the staff is focused on getting an estimate for the repair of the north abutment while evaluating the retrofit or replacement options. Council member Nathan Weller expressed concerns about adding more potential points of failure with the mentioned raising mechanisms. In particular Weller was concerned about winds on a bridge if they went with the option that allowed it to be raised, he voiced support for a permanent bridge; which is one of the options the structural engineer is examining.

The goal right now is to get the repairs to the abutment done and the bridge reset by December, 2006; that way it’s available for spring semester and family weekend. In 2027 the staff will focus on long term solutions to secure the future of the pedestrian connection to downtown.

Other news brought up during the council meeting

In other news the city council voted to repeal the Lawson Garden Committee and fold its responsibilities into the Parks and Recreation Commission. The committee was created to develop funding for the park and its initial maintenance, responsibilities that are now managed by the city and it general fund. If there are any future park developments the city would be able to reestablish the committee if there’s a need for any future major redevelopments or projects that it feels the need for the committee’s input.

The city also codified it’s current moratorium on class 3 electric scooters or ebikes on the sidewalks unless there is no alternative in a 5-0 vote. Another unanimous vote passed the updated Capital and Transportation Improvement Plans so that they can be forwarded to Olympia, Wash. by the July 1st deadline.

Pullman also signed off on its participation in the Emergency Management Assistant Compact (EMAC) with a 5-0 vote from the council. EMAC is a compact that allows the city to send any first available first responders across state lines to assist with disasters as needed. It’s not a requirement for the city to allocate those resources, but it does allow the city to assist when it can.