County extends vacation rental moratorium

Dec. 16—A moratorium on new vacation rental licenses in Clatsop County will continue for another six months.

In a divided 3-2 vote on Wednesday night, the county Board of Commissioners extended the moratorium until June 22.

It is the fourth extension since the moratorium was put in place in the summer of 2021 to give the county time to figure out how to regulate vacation rentals in unincorporated areas.

The county has been regulating vacation rentals since 2018. But except Arch Cape, where vacation rentals have been allowed under an ordinance since the early 2000s, the development code did not mention them.

Leading up to the moratorium, the county was conducting listening sessions to address strife and complaints about vacation rentals' impact on quality of life, mostly from residents in the wealthy enclave of Cove Beach.

After a lengthy public process, county commissioners in April adopted new rules around permits and occupancy. In June, the commission approved an ordinance recognizing vacation rentals of up to 30 days as an outright use in 16 unincorporated zones in the development code.

The ordinance is facing a referendum in the May election.

The group behind the effort to repeal the ordinance has organized under the name North Coast Neighbors United. The chief petitioner, Charles Dice, a homeowner in Cove Beach, has taken issue with the impact vacation rentals have on his neighborhood.

If the referendum succeeds, more than 100 existing vacation rentals outside of Arch Cape could gradually disappear as licenses expire.

Potential consequences

During a public hearing Wednesday, County Manager Don Bohn said county staff was recommending an extension of the moratorium in order to have more time to analyze the potential consequences and contingency plans depending on the outcome of the May election.

He said staff would like to provide proper context and information to commissioners before they decide to lift the moratorium.

"If we maintain the moratorium, there are things that we still have to discuss with the board moving forward as a contingency," Bohn said. "If the board decided that they wanted to at some point end the moratorium, then there are implications for that, too. And we haven't presented those to your board."

Vacation rental owners who have come out in opposition to the moratorium and referendum have urged the county to lift the moratorium. Some have challenged the genuineness of North Coast Neighbors United.

Chris DeLong, who lives in the Astoria area and sought to rent his home to tourists, said that for people relying on the revenue to pay two mortgages, the moratorium has been harmful.

"It seems like the other side has done a very good job of continuing to put hurdles and roadblocks in front of you guys to make a final decision," DeLong said, adding that the referendum is just one more hurdle.

"Frankly, what I think that this is is a bunch of very rich people in private neighborhoods that want to keep their private beaches to themselves," DeLong said. "And they do not want to allow anybody in any other class to roll in there and enjoy our open coast at an affordable price. And I think if they say anything else, it's just intellectually dishonest of them because they just want their private beaches in their private communities."

John Meyer, an Arch Cape resident behind a group opposed to the referendum, Everyone For The North Oregon Coast, echoed DeLong's comments.

"The hurdles and the roadblocks from a select few group of individuals in this community is an embarrassment," Meyer said.

He was concerned about the public perception ahead of the May election.

Commissioner Courtney Bangs, who voted against the extension, shared a similar concern.

"I want to be careful that we don't give the appearance that we are walking back an ordinance, more so that we are being cautious and cognizant of future or potential outcomes after the May election," Bangs said, adding that she stands by the ordinance.

She argued that continuing to extend the moratorium is harming property owners that should have the right to do what they want with their property.

"Frankly, I feel like continuing this moratorium is continuing punitive measures against landowners like Chris, and those are the landowners who talk to me," Bangs said. "Those are the landowners in my area. Those are the landowners I'm representing. And so if I continue to vote for a continuation of this moratorium, I'm not representing the people that elected me."

She said the moratorium has put some people at risk of losing homes that they inherited.

"I don't want to be punitive to the middle class," Bangs said. "And I feel like if we are going to continue this moratorium, we are being punitive to the middle class. Those who cannot afford to continue under the pressures that this has created."

Toyooka, who owns a vacation rental in the county, shared a similar perspective. He joined Bangs in voting against the extension.

"I would say 80% or more of my correspondences with the public are for short-term rentals or removing this moratorium," he said. "There is a smaller group that wants to retain it.

"I understand both positions and I have personal feelings which I disregard because I vow to represent those in my district."

'Incredibly divisive'

Commissioner Pamela Wev favored continuing the same approach until the May election, arguing that lifting the moratorium could create a lot of confusion and overburden staff.

"And we're facing an election, which I think is going to be a very divisive — one more divisive election in our community," she said. "There are a lot of things in this discussion that I think are just incredibly divisive. And I think that if we want to protect middle-class interests in this county, what we need to do is to not allow short-term rentals because it would open up a much larger supply of housing for people who can't afford two homes."

Commissioner Lianne Thompson was not convinced doing away with vacation rentals would make more affordable housing.

"It doesn't pencil out for me because I don't see that the cost of housing anywhere will allow that," she said.

Wev, Thompson and Mark Kujala, the commission's chairman, voted to extend the moratorium.