What should I look into for city/county zoning for rentals?

[Greg Cooksey]

Greetings to all,

I'm currently looking into the possibility of beginning investment into one of two niches. I am tossing around the idea of Section 8 or student housing for buy and hold investments. Now, I have read some BP investors' stories of running into issues with zoning and renting to students. For example, some cities don't allow a single family home to be rented to more than two people who are not immediate family in an area zoned for student housing.

Assuming there is no HOA, and the property is either a single family home or no larger than a fourplex, where would I go to research the zoning requirements in the couple of cities I'm looking at these investments in? The cities I have an interest in doing this would be Spokane, WA, Ellensburg, WA, Boise, ID, Moscow, ID, and Eugene OR.

I'm not looking for someone to link a website for each city, but I don't know which agency I would be best served contacting about this issue. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance!

 - Greg