VIEWS FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE

Views from the Steering Committee

The Problem with Lumping and other Things
May 8, 2021

When we paint with a broad brush we are bound to get paint on things we did not want to color.

Ditto when we just lump everyone into the same pile. This is what the STR community has done with those of us opposed to their inclusion into our single-family, low density neighborhoods. The STR side has called us retired millionaires with nothing better to do, newbies who just moved here, outsiders trying to ruin their philanthropic endeavor to empower women and that we are just a small number of cranks who lodge false complaints against a fine group of upstanding business owners just minding their business and doing nothing wrong. Poppycock.

This past few weeks have seen in my neighborhood a reported violation for a lack of signage on one STR, documented with photographic evidence, form submitted online to LodgingRevs and no response whatsoever from anyone. Yes, a sign magically appeared weeks after the submittal of the violation report, but no acknowledgement of a violation. Just yesterday a neighbor was taking photos of an overflowing garbage can which had spilled refuse all along our road due to the wind. This same garbage can had been put out in the middle of the next door neighbor's front yard, not on the property of the STR owner at all. And no, the garbage can did not just walk itself over to my neighbor's yard! The renter or housekeeper placed that can there in the middle of my neighbor's front yard!

But we are just cranks with nothing better to do. I have plenty better to do than police these for-profit businesses that have no business being in our neighborhoods. They belong in tourist-commercial zones. Why do you think we are reporting these violations? Why do you think we are taking up our valuable and precious time with this? Because by reporting violations repeatedly we were under the obviously false impression that these "bad actors" as you like to call them, would be removed from our neighborhoods and we would not have to put up with them any longer. Don't throw the whole STR business out you say, just reform the enforcement piece or get rid of the "bad STRs" but not mine. We tried that for the past five years. There were no strikes given, no STRs were shut down and the neighborhoods are burning but you say you cannot even smell smoke! ( this may be a bad analogy given last year's fires...)

Just because there were no strikes given does not mean there were no violations. It means that the poorly written policy was completely ineffective at dealing with over 500 businesses in neighborhoods where they are a very bad fit. You don't put a strip club next to a school and you don't put a frat house in a quiet neighborhood. And your "only large families with dogs stay here" model is more bluster and fluster than truth. Three of our STRs in this neighborhood allow a maximum of 6 people. Your giant family model would not apply there at all. One allows that many (6), but has only three maximum because the owners live there and will not allow it to be overrun. We like the owner occupied model. The BOC and Counsel Belmont ignored that too.

In a residential neighborhood being owner occupied should be the requirement for entry into said neighborhood. If you lived there and we knew you as our neighbor, we know we could count on you to enforce the rules, live by them and work as a fellow neighbor with us to stop problems before they began. That is called being a responsible owner, not an absentee de-facto motel owner.

Many of you say your hope is to retire here someday. Many of you might want to hope that someday never comes based on the behavior of you and your renters. You are making many, many enemies in these neighborhoods. Some of you have made our lives hell due to your comments, your anger and your unruly, entitled guests who view the whole neighborhood as their private resort for the day or two they are here. Do you think we will forget that or your threats? We will not. Some of you want the new enforcement policy to include a group of people to "just sit down and talk about the issues" where violations are concerned. We have done that already and it was as if we were from different planets. Your planet "No Problem" where "I don't live here but it's beautiful and I made it that way," you think there are no problems and the only renters are church ladies and large families with Garrison Keillor's idea, "and all the children are above average." While the neighbors in neighborhoods with your businesses live on planet "Oh hell no not again another three day frat party weekend!"

If you do not live in the STR you own and rent out, you do not know who stays there and all of your outdoor cameras and the like do not show you the havoc that these renters leave in their wake for neighbors and neighborhoods. Case in point overflowing trash cans, parking in the street, noise at 2 AM. You are not here to see, hear, or smell these things and when we report these violations you say we are false reporters. Convenient to shoot the messenger and just say "liar" but you are not speaking the truth.

I do not envy the BOC and Counsel Belmont for walking this tightrope between these two polar opposites. But I do believe that the only proper thing to do is to listen to those of us who live here, we who are their constituents, we who voted for them to help us in our communities. And that includes the STR owners who live in Lincoln County, they are part of the fabric of our community too. But Bend and Arizona and California and Portland? Not so much. Buying a piece of property makes you an investor, living in it makes you a community member. Try to understand and acknowledge the difference between the two before you try to make your investment more important than our community.

What's the Fight About?
May 1, 2021

By 2019, there were more applications for STR licenses than permits for new housing. Investors were interested in buying built properties with the existing infrastructure to start making money immediately, not making investments in the infrastructure needed to develop our County.

Realtors received more inquiries for residential investment property (STR) than homes in unincorporated Lincoln County ater the cities started regulating the location and the number of STRs. A realtor from an Emerald Brokerage told her neighbors that unincorporated Lincoln County was considered the 'wild west' for STR investments because there were no regulations. A realtor from another brokerage disclosed that s/he stopped encouraging investors to look at properties in residential neighborhoods. S/he lived in an older neighborhood and saw first hand the impacts of STRs on their neighborhood's character and integrity.

By 2019, this unregulated investment decreased our available housing stock to less than 1%.

According to County data, the number of STR applications spiked after the BOC announced it was reviewing the STR permitting process. After the spike, Investors began looking for properties at any price. There were bidding wars, cash down. Realtors were directed to "not let this property get away" and to pay any price.

Whether Lincoln County's STR Owners reside in England (as do two in Bayshore) or in Portland Metro, the fact remains: The net profit realized by STR Investors far exceeds the contribution this Industry makes to the local economy.

Stated more plainly, this Industry COSTS the residents of Lincoln County our wealth, both in terms of our financial capital and social capital. Our tax dollars subsidize it.

Our lost financial wealth includes people who want to rent or buy but cannot find homes and must leave. This loss impacts our emergency response, schools, infrastructure, medical services, and home health care. This loss affects the non-hospitality economic sectors of timber, commercial fishing, and agriculture, each of which exceeds the annual contribution of tourism, according to the Ten Year Update on Lincoln County's Economy, 2014.

According to the Ten Year Update, even the "Retiree Effect" has a more significant financial impact on our economy than Tourism. Why? Retirees always vote "yes" on school, public safety, and library bonds. Retirees are also Lincoln County's primary source of volunteers.
Did you know that the lowest wages anywhere in Lincoln County are found in Lincoln City, where the hospitality sector dominates the economy.

Our lost wealth in social capital includes our investments in the three Community College campuses and a general obligation bond passed by Lincoln County's School District. Securing the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) funding for Highway 20 improvement projects prioritized community leaders' unity and sustained advocacy.

The voters approved the Port of Newport's overhaul of the deepwater terminal. The Port of Toledo secured public resources to purchase and expand a critically important boatyard, cementing the future of the marine services and timber along the Yaquina River. The US Navy's Bremerton Homeport moved to Newport. Voters passed a bond to build a 'state of the art' Recreation Center in Newport. Oregon State University established a campus in Newport, and Newport hosts the Hatfield Marine Science Center.

The STR Industry did not contribute to, sponsor, or support Lincoln County in acquiring any of these hard-fought-for investments critically needed to sustain small coastal communities.

If an Investor wants to know what permanent residents believe is at stake in this battle, watch the 10-minute video about Tillamook County's housing crisis, made in 2019, at the Research and Resources Tab on this website. Listen to the comments by the community's elected and appointed leaders of schools, social services, first responders, and the families they try to serve.

This is what the fight is about.

Reining in Illegal Hotels
March 19, 2021

The Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association (ORLA), a Trade Association for the Industry, has a Position Statement on STRs:

"In some instances, commercial operators or investors are buying rental properties with no intention of living there but solely for the purpose of renting them out to short-term visitors, just like a hotel. This unregulated commercial activity often compromises consumer safety, impacts affordable housing supply across Oregon and endangers the character and security of residential neighborhoods."

Illegal Hotels are Adversely Impacting the Fabric of Neighborhoods and Reducing Affordable Housing Stock throughout Oregon's Communities."

"We continue to support the rights of property owners to occasionally rent their homes to earn extra income, following all local, state and federal rules and regulations."

"Unregulated Hotels operating in Residential or Mixed-Use Zones are Disruptive to Communities and pose Serious Safety Concerns for Guests, Communities, and Neighborhoods."

"In addition, neighbors in many cases have no way of knowing who is listing the properties in their area, much less renting them, and can face chronic problems like excessive noise, unruly behavior, and a revolving door of strangers next door. By flouting zoning laws, unregulated businesses are disrupting communities across Oregon and reducing the supply of homes available to workers. Unregulated commercial activity in residential and mixed-use zones is having a direct impact on rent rates across Oregon and is making it harder for working families to stay in their homes."

What is an illegal STR? Per ORLA, illegal means unlicensed. 15neighborhoods defines "illegal" as (unlawfully) licensed in unincorporated Lincoln County's Residential Zones.

The impacts ORLA cites are not unique to unlicensed STRs. Licensed Owners do not “occasionally” rent their homes. Licensed Owners dismiss public health like septic systems. Licensed Owners buy rental properties “solely for the purpose of renting them out to short-term visitors, just like a hotel.”

The County will amend the STR Code in unincorporated Lincoln County. Will Owners agree with ORLA’s policy directive and see the wisdom of:

1. Limiting whole house rentals to "occasionally," perhaps no more than 30-60 nights annually to earn extra income, not to pay your STR mortgage?

2. Endorsing an Annual Existing Septic Evaluation Report (ESER for septic systems. An ESER costs about $400 plus the per gal tank pumping charge, if needed?

3. Limiting renters to two per bedroom, a maximum of four in septic STRs. According to the 2020 Census, the average number of occupants in Lincoln County's homes is 2.5 persons, not the average licensed occupancy of eight renters in unincorporated Lincoln County's STRs?

4. Educating the renters about Emergency Preparedness at the time of reservation before they leave for vacation. Put CERT radios in your STRs. Please give them the Lincoln County website and advise them to sign up for Quake Alerts. Explain what to do when the power goes out ... especially if they are on septic systems. Install landlines in STRs where power outages make VoIP phones unreliable or where cell phones simply won't work, in case of an emergency?

5. Agreeing to take steps stop the "revolving door of strangers" next door?

6. Requiring that the STR is the Owner’s permanent residence. Owners can temporarily leave and rent their whole home (Vacation Rental) or remain and rent a room in their home (Home Share).

Yes, by all means, crackdown on the unlicensed STRs. Demand restitution. Fine them $10,000 for unlicensed operation and demand payment of the TRT. Alternatively, they could surrender their STR license(s) and agree never to operate in Lincoln County again. No second chances. Get rid of the bad actors. We can all agree with this.

https://www.oregonrla.org/uploads/9/7/9/8/97983354/orlaposition_shorttermrentals.pdf

All Residents are Affected
March 1, 2021

To those of you so far unaffected by the increase of short-term rentals (STRs) in Lincoln County, I offer you the following scenario.

Right now, there are no restrictions on where an STR can be located in Unincorporated Lincoln County. None. Those of us who thought that zoning would protect us have been proven wrong again and again as these mini-motels are everywhere, even in the County’s most restrictive residential zoning because they are “residences.”

STR proponents say if we didn’t want to live next to an STR we should have purchased homes in an HOA. To them, I say: Have you seen Bayshore or gated Sandpiper? Both HOAs have restrictive covenants and yet are overrun with STRs.

STRs can turn every single-family home in Unincorporated County into an STR. Unlike the cities with caps, zoning limits, or phase-outs, Unincorporated Lincoln County has no limits. Imagine all your neighbors gone and all their former homes nightly rentals? Would you want to live there?

As of now, there is no way to control the growth of STRs in Unincorporated Lincoln County. STR proponents want a “fair and equitable solution.” What do they mean? Study VIAOregon’s website. They are campaigning to (1) make no effective changes and (2) lift the temporary licensing suspension.

STRs hold all the cards right now. Even if the Petition allowed resident owners, do you think Industry will give up anything?

With the help of City residents, we can change that.

To survive as livable communities, we must become a Team of Residents. Please go to 15neighborhoods.com and sign the Petition. It (1) prohibits the licensing of new STRs in the single-family residential zones (2) phases-out the existing STRs in those zones in 5 years. It doesn’t ban STRs. Need help? Call 541-764-2658.

Please don’t believe the hype, rhetoric, and hyperbole of those claiming 15neighborhoods will ban STRs in Lincoln County and doom the economy. We want the same restrictions as the cities. We think that STRs provide a service that fits best in the Tourist and Commercial zones in Unincorporated Lincoln County and where permitted by the Cities.

Short-term Rental Septic Requirements: It is a Matter of Public Health
February 22, 2021

I support (1) the expansion of the requirement of an Existing Septic Evaluation Report (ESER) to include ALL STRs on septic systems and (2) a role for Property Managers in Septic Emergency Preparedness.

I believe that many County residents are confused by claims of ViaOregon that:

Existing STRs should be exempt from STR inspection requirements.
New STRs should have a one-year grace period.
Occupancy should stay at 3/bedroom plus "two for the house."

Why is there confusion? Because ViaOregon offers no reason(s) for these recommendations.

If not public health, then what? The bottom line.

COST: The cost of an ESER is nominal, given the nightly rental revenue. A&B Septic is my service provider. According to A&B, an ESER fee varies from $425 for a standard system to $625 for a sand filter system. Tanks need to be pumped first. A&B charges 45 cents/gallon to pump a septic tank.

The costs are a tax-deductible business expense for STRs because they are licensed as a business.

The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requires owners of some newer systems to pay for semi-annual inspections ($300 with A&B) and to file a Report ($85 DEQ fee). These fees are not tax-deductible.

PUBLIC HEALTH: There are readily available and commonly acceptable formulas for making public health-based decisions for pumping frequency. Because Pumping a septic tank is a prerequisite for and ESER. Pumping and, therefore, the inspection frequency is based upon the size of the septic tank and the occupancy, given normal residential use. These determinations support the recommendation for an ESER requirement as is explained below.

If you don't know your tank's size, the rule of thumb is to count the number of bedrooms. Until the County changes the occupancy rules, the maximum number of residents for a three-bedroom STR is 11 (two per bedroom, plus two for the house). The formula allocates 100 gals per person, then adds 400 gals for a rough estimate of how large your tank should be. In our three-bedroom example, the STR would have a maximum licensed occupancy of 11 (1000 gal) plus 400 gals requiring a 1500 gal septic tank.

Once you know or estimate using the formula the size of your tank, pumping frequency depends on the number of occupants. Based on this chart developed by researchers at Penn State University, you can determine the frequency when you know your tank size and the number of occupants:

Under the current maximum licensed occupancy of 11 people for a three-bedroom dwelling, the pumping frequency would be every … oops, it is off the chart.

However, if the County reduces occupancy for a three-bedroom STR is reduced to six (2 per bedroom) as proposed, the pumping frequency would be every 1.5 years (or 1.8 years for a two-bedroom STR and 1.4 years for a 4-bedroom STR, assuming the tanks are appropriately sized.)

It makes common sense that short-term renters will be unfamiliar with the safe use of a septic system. This cries out for an increase in ESER (pumping) frequency. In this case, an adjustment from 1.5 (or 1.4 or 1.8) years)to annually when the Business License is renewed is appropriate.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: The County has not yet considered septic system preparedness in the event of a natural emergency. The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) provides Guidance and Checklist for septic safety for five common emergencies: Power Failures, Wildfires, Flooding, Earthquakes, and Snow/Freezing Temperatures. Without an onsite manager or resident owner, the Property Manager (not the neighbor), shouldn’t the Property Manager be responsible? If not the Property Manager and not neighbors, who will?

AN EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY, update
February 21, 2021
Short-term vacation rentals (STRs) fuel an Extractive Industry dominated locally by Meredith (22%) and Vacasa (18%). Sweet Home is a distant third.

Why extractive? Because this international, multi-billion dollar Industry of Investors, Realtors, and Property Managers take public resources and generates wealth that does not stay in the community.

The Realtors and Property Managers do not own homes, although this has changed over the past year. [The Realtors and Property Management companies are now routinely buying vacant lots in established neighborhoods as investments.]

The STR  Industry doesn’t own any of the amenities that drew us to the residential neighborhoods of Oregon’s Central Coast. The STR Industry has no responsibility to preserve our residential neighborhoods and rights to use our property as it was intended.

Just as in other Extractive Industries such as Oil & Gas or Mining, the STR Industry takes the property of others and generates wealth that does not lead to sustainable and inclusive growth in the communities where the extractive activity takes place. The revenue generated by STRs leave the County unless the owner is a resident.

The goal of an Extractive Industry is to maximize short-term value, not long-term investment. This Extractive Industry erodes our sense of community.  Like a parasite, it will ultimately injure or kill its host, namely, our neighborhoods. Unlike a symbiont, there is no mutually beneficial relationship between it and the neighborhoods in which it operates.

Lacking resources and overwhelmed with an unanticipated surge in STRs, the County relies on neighbors to enforce the law. Neighbors who just want to “live and let live” become known as snitches by Owner/Investors and in some cases are berated in private comments by government regulators in email.

An Extractive Industry thrives in an "us against them" mentality that changes relationships. Read the recent letters to the editor, the pubic Comments submitted to the Commissioners, even FB. Neighbors are called angry and accused or harassment because we post “Neighborhoods Not Vacation Rental Signs” on our lawns. Investors and Property Managers have filed lawsuits or hired lawyers to send neighbors letters titled “Case and Desist” as if they were an Order.

What are they afraid of? The loss of access to public resources means the loss of money and power for them.

Who benefits from STRs? Not the residential neighborhoods where the money is made. Property Managers charge a 30-35% management fee on gross rents. Some remains in the County. Seventy to sixty-five percent of the fee, less a nominal TRT according to the Lincoln County Clerk, remains in unincorporated Lincoln County. Because between 6-10% of the Owners reside in Lincoln County, the net revenue is no re-invested where the adverse impact is so intensely felt: in the neighborhoods of unincorporated Lincoln County.

Investor/Owners pay a Transient Room Tax, but by state law, 70% of that must be invested in tourist attractions and facilities, not the well-being of our residential neighborhoods. The hospitality industry balloons by providing poorly paid temporary jobs with no career potential, no pensions, no 401(k) plan with or without an employer match, and health insurance.  In our community, high school kids work to support their families. That's not right.

Property Managers and its stable of Investor/Owners buy furnishings and supplies, but so would residents if they were able to afford to live here and had a family wage job. Tourists spend money on food and entertainment, but so do residents. If resident families had sustainable employment and stable housing, we would be able to live in Lincoln County near where we work, paying our way 365 days a year, not just during the Season.

This Industry doesn’t contribute to Emergency Preparedness, doesn't provide emergency supplies to its renters, subsidize our emergency medical and fire services, or contribute anything to infrastructure. The residents who derive fundamentally NO benefit from hosting this Industry pays to host! The STR Industry, like all Extractive Industries, takes our community resources without a thought beyond the bottom line.

By flipping affordable housing from its intended residential use to a licensed business use, the STR Industry forces families to move further from employment or out of the area to find employment.

Our schools risk closure because they lose government funding when the census is too low. Closing schools has a domino effect on a community. Google “Arizona Re-Thinking Short-Term Rental Laws After Sedona Uproar” for an example. For a local example, watch this video on Tillamook’s Housing Crisis (2009). https://tctv.viebit.com/player.php?hash=GakxFyap5gpO Lincoln County’s STR Ordinance was based on Tillamook’s, according to remarks made during a Board of Commissioners weekly meeting by County Counsel Wayne Belmont.

As for restauranteurs, read the interview of Charlotte Boxer, the owner of Newport’s Deep End Café.
https://www.streetroots.org/news/2018/06/15/tourisms-coastal-crunch-vacation-rentals-and-crowds-create-livability-issues

Lincoln County is a commodity. It is interchangeable with any other coastal county. Our residential neighborhoods, our homes, our families, our community are mere resources to this Industry.

Like the Oregon Mining Company near Baker, the STR Industry takes what it wants and will move on when the resource is depleted.

Indefensible.

HOME OCCUPATIONS versus SHORT-TERM RENTALS
Bob Sulek
January 28, 2021
https://newportnewstimes.com/article/home-occupations-verses-short-term-rentals

During the pandemic, many people are now working from their homes. Some are working virtually, and others are now doing actual physical work at home. Those doing physical work from the home have been defined by the county as a “home occupation,” which requires a conditional use permit. The county standards for home occupations are as follows:

“Home occupations permitted in residential zones shall be limited to the following types, subject to all applicable standards:

Professional office or clinic.
Personal service establishment such as barber, beautician, tailor, cobbler, gunsmith, etc.
Home appliance or electronic service or repair.
Artist or craft studio.
Small scale manufacture or assembly.
Other uses similar in character, scale and performance to the above.”

Home occupations require approval through the conditional use process. So what is the process to obtain a conditional use permit?

“To apply, submit a completed application, the appropriate filing fee and a plot plan of the property, which shows all property lines and the location of all existing and proposed structures. The application must be signed by the property owner or authorized in writing by the owner. The applicant should also submit a written description of the proposed use, which details the characteristics of the use (e.g. size and use of any structures, number of employees, amount of traffic generated, etc.)

If the request is determined by staff to be routine, the application will be handled administratively and typically takes 30 days to process. During this time, staff will review the proposal and document their findings in a staff report. The applicant and property owners within 250 feet of the subject property will be notified of the staff decision and will be given 15 days in which to appeal. If not appealed during this 15-day period, the staff decision is final. A staff decision, which is appealed, is forwarded to the Planning Commission for consideration at a public hearing.
If the conditional use has more than routine significance, the request will be reviewed by the Planning Commission in a public hearing. It generally takes six weeks to get on the agenda of the Planning Commission. Its decision is also subject to an appeal period of 15 days.
A conditional use permit generally is valid for two years, unless substantial construction pursuant thereto, as defined in the county land use code, has taken place.”

The county has defined the process clearly, including the provision for affected neighbors to participate and a $925 fee.

So what is the process for an owner to obtain a short-term rental (STR) business license in a residential neighborhood?

Submit an application, pay $350, have a home inspection by the county and you are ready to rent. No checking of septic systems, no input from neighbors, no concerns about traffic, no consideration that there is now a licensed rental on both sides of a full-time residence and no requirement for the owner to even use the license. This type of business certainly has more impact on a neighborhood than an artist or craft studio, and all without any input from the affected neighbors.

How is it that a Lincoln County residents must go through this process to earn a living, yet an STR owner (often not a resident) does not?
If the county commissioners will not/cannot define STRs as the businesses they are, then at least change the licensing approval process to mirror the conditional use permit.

And if this doesn’t work, visit 15neighborhoods.com, sign the petition and phase STRs out of residential neighborhoods.

MY PERSONAL COMMENTS FOR WORKSHOP 1
Monica Kirk
January 20, 2021
Dear Commissioners:

1. Enforcement is a failed STR policy, and STRs property managers are at fault. They say the "County should just enforce its existing law," and it would eliminate a few problem STRs?

We estimate hundreds of complaints have been or could have been filed if the policy was known since the County adopted the STR Business Licensing program. The program included enforcement. With three documented violations, you would lose your Business License. In the 4+ years the program has operated, the County has never issued an STR a "strike." In part, this is because the violations are criminal misdemeanors and require a sheriff to witness the violation. The neighbor's word is not enough.

How many Deputy Sheriffs will the County have to hire to enforce the existing policy? Will the STR Investors pay? Or do they expect the County taxpayers to pay? The Property Managers know the STR Program, including the loopholes. This is a multi-national, multi-billion dollar industry for Investors. By being cheeky and failing to abide by the law voluntarily, Vacasa and others have jeopardized the goodwill of your neighbors.

2. Capping (limiting the number of STRs by attrition) in a geographic area, such as a neighborhood, is the only policy that will reduce adverse community impacts. Fewer STRs, fewer opportunities for violations, and less cost to the County, and more stable neighborhoods. This is a WIN for neighborhoods and a WIN for Taxpayers. Taxpayers save money because we don't have to hire more patrol deputies. Neighbors won't have to spend their time reporting illegal parking that blocks the street, garbage strewed around the neighborhood from insecure bins, loud parties at night, and speeders on narrow, chip-sealed roads. Yes, Property Managers and out-of-town Investors will find profits reduced.

3. Capping (limiting the number of STRs by attrition) will eventually produce housing for long-term renters and owners in the Residential Zones. When the available housing stock is low (as in Lincoln County where it is under 1% and demand is high, a housing stock of .5-1% STRs is about right, according to an economist who works for the STR industry if the goal is to preserve neighborhoods.

He uses the 'a nurse' as the test case because communities need nurses as a measure of community sustainability and stability. ASK: "Can nurses find affordable housing? He assumes a salary of $45k, with about 1/3 for housing, is about right. Small communities have less leeway or room to maneuver. Greater care must be taken because even the smallest fumble will have unintended consequences and result in substantial and unmistakable adverse impacts.

On May 29, 2020, County Counsel Wayne Belmont said that "518 STR licenses (including pending and others in progress) constitute about 4% of the total housing stock in the unincorporated area of the Country." The economist proposed .5-1%. To minimize disruption during the 5-year phase-out, 15neighborhoods proposes 4% in neighborhood, but no more than 518 STRs anywhere besides the Tourist-Commercial (CT) Zones.

However, given Lincoln County's economic circumstances (low housing stock, high demand), 1% is more appropriate if the intent is to preserve neighborhood livability and increase our long-term housing stock.

3. Phase-out STRs from the Residential Zones in Lincoln County over five years as Cannon Beach did in 1992. A unanimous Supreme Court upheld the Cannon Beach phase-out in 1993. Why? Because it "substantially advanced legitimate governmental interests" and "does not deny property owners economically viable use of their properties." Cope v City of Cannon Beach, 855 P2nd 1083 (1993), 317 OR 339. After all, it is still a house suitable for the legal purpose of long-term occupancy.

I WAS SNOOKERED!
January 17 2021

My neighborhood is a member of the 15neighborhoods Coalition. We are gathering Petition signatures for a Short Term Rental (STR) Ballot Measure for residential neighborhoods. Go to www.15neighborhoods.com to download a petition signature sheet, sign and date (2 places), and send it to P.O. Box 390, Depoe Bay. All registered Lincoln County voters can sign.

I was unfamiliar with Short Term Vacation Rental (STR/VRD) business until January 18, 2018, when I found myself ‘sandwiched between two short-term rentals, each licensed for 11 people.

My initial response was how “These houses must have huge septic tanks” because so many renters were there. Through research, I learned that the County had no septic records for these houses. These two STRs were built in the 1940s, with various additions added over the years. [Before 1971, septic permits were not required. My house was built in 1999. DEQ requires that I contract with an inspector for two inspections annually who then sends an annual Report to DEQ.]

Living next to an STR is very inconvenient. Picking up garbage or calling a (not really) Local Contact to pick up garbage was tiresome but necessary to keep the rats and raccoons at bay. Having 20+ people show up for parties and being told it was OK so long as only 11 people spend the night was unsettling.

Along the way, I also learned that the Maximum Occupancy Limits were unenforceable anyway because the Sheriff would not enter the premises without a warrant to count heads. Assuming permission was granted, and more renters than licensed were present, it was up to the renters to decide who had to leave (and probably return after the Sheriff left, as happened once next to us). No record was kept because citations are not issued.

What if they are also violating the Noise requirement after 10 pm? This is not an STR-specific law. It applies to all living in unincorporated County. They’d be told to pipe down. If they did, there would be no citation even if the Sheriff observed it. This is only a misdemeanor in Lincoln County. Not worth the time if the citation is appealed, and the Deputy would have to appear as a witness. This is true of parking, too, another violation that applies Countywide.

The Property Manager and the Investor have NO CONSEQUENCES. The “cost” of STR management is passed on to the neighbors (1) as the “first responders” to call in a complaint and (2) pay taxes so the Sheriff can add deputies and administrative staff to process applications and respond to complaints.

Then I learned that I lived in Lincoln County’s most restrictive Residential Zone (R-1-A). This Residential Zone is so restrictive that not even Bed and Breakfast Inns are allowed. I told County Counsel about this only to learn that “short term rentals” were a residential use according to the Oregon Supreme Court and allowed in Residential Zones.

I was snookered. This is not true now and was not true when Lincoln County adopted its STR regulations in 2016, according to my attorney.

By now, I started paying more attention to the long term housing shortage problem. I heard that housing was not affordable and increasingly unavailable at any price. I heard from a government official that more STR business licenses were issued than new construction permits in 2018-2019. It felt like many problems were interrelated and that the vacation home industry was the nexus.

The Goal of 15neighborhoods is to restrict and eventually phase-out STRs only from our Residential neighborhoods over five years. STRs are useful, but should have been licensed only in the County’s Tourist/Commercial Zones.

OPEN LETTER TO OUR LINCOLN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
January 8, 2021

Greetings:

In preparation for the STR workshop scheduled for 1/20/2021 at 6:00 pm, 15neighborhoods has submitted the following questions to the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners (LCBOC ) for clarification and response:

On 11/16/2020 Counsel Belmont prepared a Memorandum to the Board of Commissioners outlining progress made in the Board’s comprehensive review of licensing standards, and proposed modifications to the STR licensing program.  Several of Counsel Belmont’s recommendations were met favorably by the Commissioners, with only a couple of topics needing further review.  Counsel Belmont was prepared to draft an amendment.   Question:  What is the current status of Counsel Belmont’s anticipated summary document; why are we starting all over again with another series of workshops?

The public has been told that the Sheriff’s department now has new software up and running to track STR licenses, violations and provide useful data.   Question:  Can you provide examples of the reports available to the public and advise when a link for the public to access data and reports will be provided?

The community has been told that you are working on county wide and geographic caps on the number of licenses that will be granted in unincorporated Lincoln County. Question:  Can you share those numbers and give an example of how you would apply those caps geographically by neighborhood?

New occupancy limits were proposed for STRs on both septic and municipal sewer systems with talk about making enforcement of the limits “much easier”.   Question:  How are you going to enforce occupancies when the Sheriff’s department will not enter a STR to verify the numbers?

Compliance and enforcement changes were proposed based upon data tracking with the new software and possibly holding the STR management companies accountable.   Question:  Beyond tracking, have you established a fine schedule that would afford the Sheriff’s department the ability to write a ticket?

There has been much talk about how the owner of an STR pays a lot of Transient Room Tax when in fact the Renterpays the TRT on top of the rental rate to support the tourist industry.   Question:  Can you report the total annual dollar amount renters of STRs (in unincorporated Lincoln County only) pay in TRT?

Resolution 20-4-3B temporarily suspended licensing of STR’s for 60 days.  Within the resolution existing licenses are allowed to be assigned/transferred to a new owner.  This provision  was done without discussion and was only to be for 60 days.  During the suspension the only way to procure a STR license is to buy an existing STR and have the existing license assigned/ transferred within 60 days of the purchase of the property.   Question:  Where did the request to add this provision to Resolution 20-4-3B initiate?  In this one area, the resolution is in direct opposition to LCC 4.420.  Why was this provision included in the resolution without public input and why will it continue to be allowed until June 1st 2021?

A fundamental question still exists around the definition of an STR as a business, which the 9th Circuit Court has recently ruled upon.  Businesses are clearly not allowed in R-1, R-1A and R-2 zoned neighborhoods.  Home Occupations however, are allowed and defined in detail, along with the need for a conditional use permit for a Home Occupation business.   Question:  Why does the County not enforce the LC zoning laws which prohibit Businesses in residentially zoned neighborhoods?  Further, if the county is viewing the STR as a Home Occupation rather than a business, why is a conditional use permit (which would allow public testimony) not required when licensing STR Businesses?

WANT A PROBLEM YOU CAN FIX AT THE BALLOT BOX ON NOVEMBER 2, 2021?

Where do Lincoln City's essential workers live? They live in unincorporated Lincoln County, which is poised to super-size the STR Industry's chokehold on our residential neighborhoods and further reduce the long-term housing stock on February 23.

Sign the Petition NOW that will go a long way towards preserving our residential neighborhoods by only licensing STRs in commercial/tourist zones.

What happens to the long-term workforce housing stock on February 22, 2021, the date short term vacation rentals (STR or VRD) are on the Board of Commissioners' Agenda?

Depending upon the Commissioners’ decision, Investors who were not among the 601 short-term rental business license holders in Unincorporated Lincoln County March 4, 2019, become eligible to apply for a STR business license and begin charging a nightly rate ranging from $150 to $1500 per night.

Under the terms of the Commissioners’ Temporary Suspension of New Licensing, adopted on March 4, 2019, STR Business License Applications are not "accepted" by the Sheriff's Department. Last August, however, reliable sources have shared that more than 200 Investors are eager to submit applications for new STR licenses. What are these out of town investors doing in the meantime? Probably offering month-to-month rentals, perhaps using FEMA funds, at more modest rates.

We do not have to turn people out on the street, force families to move in with grandparents, or leave the area come February 23.

There are many sound public policy reasons and ways to protect both our senior and are younger full-time residents as the Lincoln County Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code sets out. Promoting the tourism by reducing our long term housing stock is not among them.

For instance, how many residents who lost their homes in the fire will remain unhoused because the FEMA supplement paid for temporary lodging has run out? At what point do schools close, because there are not enough children. How many non-tourist businesses needed for a permanent community will be force to close as we become just another "Lincoln City" where local housing is unavailable.

Lincoln County Representative-Elect Dick Anderson boasted in March 2019 that "Lincoln City has the largest number of rented rooms of any city on the coast between San Francisco and Seattle." https://lincolncityhomepage.com/rep-gomberg-mayor-anderson-testify-at-sb-621-public-hearing/

At the same Hearing, Lincoln County Representative David Gomberg testified that "In Lincoln City about half of the housing is currently either vacation rentals or second homes. They are not available for long-term family or workforce housing."

The most immediate and direct way is to solve this problem is to pass the STR Ballot Measure in May. This Measure will (1) stop licensing STRs in Residential Zones and (2) gradually phase-out STR in Residential Zones over five years.

BUT FIRST, it has to qualify by August 4, 2021 and this requires 1, 454 valid signatures, plus a recommended overage of 20% for protection. Signatures are valid for two years; if you have already signed, give someone else a signature sheet.

All registered Lincoln County voters are eligible to Sign the STR Petition and to Vote on the Ballot Measure in May. The changes apply only in unincorporated County, but City residents have a say in whether the rest of us can achieve a rough parity with you.

The Ballot Measure will preserve the older homes in established residential neighborhoods that risk being bought up as investments. According to County records, 94% of the licensed 601 STRs in unincorporated Lincoln County are owned by non-Lincoln County residents.

To accomplish this, we need to license STR/VRDs in commercial/tourist zones ONLY. STR/VRDs dominate too many residential neighborhoods in unincorporated Lincoln County.

No more nightly rentals in low-density neighborhoods. The health and safety of our full-time residents must come first. Residential Zones are not Resorts.

Motels and STRs/VRDs are for transients renting nightly. Homes are for neighbors living, playing, and working together for months or years.

COMMISSIONERS: WHO IS YOUR CONSTITUENT?
December 30, 2020

Dear Lincoln County Commissioners,

I read the Constituent Input from your December 14, 2020 meeting related to short term vacation rentals (STRs or VRDs). I want to bring something I believe is very important to your attention: Do the people opposed to changing the STR rules live in Lincoln County?

Please modify the electronic constituent input form to require the physical address where a commenter resides and votes, having this is essential. This transparency would make it far easier to identify commenters who are your constituents because they live in Lincoln County.

I found this information in County records, dated June 23, 2020. Below are the names and addresses of commenters who oppose changing the STR regulations. Please, correct me if my sourcing is incorrect.

1. The Halseys, Tucson, Arizona
2. H. Brann, Portland, Oregon
3. The Wilsons, Orangevale, California
4. L. Hines, Cottage Grove, Oregon
5. R. Hatton, Fort Worth, Texas
6. The Egans, Huntington Beach, California
7. L. Bennett, Lakewood, California
8. B. Shaffer, Oregon City, Oregon
9. K. Gresh, Henderson, Nevada
10. C. Harris, Portland, OR
11. E. Mossaad, Portland, OR area
12. M. Jones, Springfield, OR

P. Magill, J. Jessel and T. Richardson, (both Jessel and Richardson appear to be realtors), are the only people who both live in Lincoln County and who are opposed to changes in the existing STR Ordinances. Give weight to their comments as they are your constituents, just like those of us who want STRs kept in commercial/tourist zones, not operating as businesses in residential zones. I encourage you to check my facts, correct them if they are wrong, and let me know.

I could not locate the addresses of these commenters who are opposed to changes:

1. G. and C. Pietrok (there is a Pietrok Llc which is in Omaha, Nebraska)
2. H. Gilbert and A. Peslin
3. B. Johnston

On the other hand, fifteen of the forty Commenters on December 14, 2020, who want change and oppose keeping STRs in residential neighborhoods, live in the following neighborhoods: Bayshore, Bella Beach, Sea Grove, Miroco, Gleneden, and Tidewater.

Previously, you have received comments opposing STRs in residential neighborhoods from residents of: Beverly Beach, Agate Beach, Otis, Sandpiper, South Beach (Pacific Shores), South Beach (Surfland), and Yachats.

Although not residents of unincorporated Lincoln County, your constituents from Newport, Lincoln City, and Depoe Bay have also submitted comments supporting restrictions in the past. Although proposed siting restrictions such as caps and a phase-out would not affect their laws, code changes giving rough parity to residents of unincorporated County impacts them as well.

“Anonymous”; is a former STR employee from Lincoln County. It is telling, isn’t it, that a constituent is afraid to identify themselves. You can decide whether this person is “pro” or “con.”

Your responsibility lies with your constituents. I urge you to remember that as you read and count the number of “pro” or “con” views on change.

Your decision will decide the future of the residents of Lincoln County, your constituents. How can you allow outsiders to dictate Lincoln County law? I cannot go to their home states or counties and grind my axe and get my way; why are you letting them weigh in on our welfare?

They want their money, they are incorrect about how much their money does in Lincoln County, and some of you have said this.

Paraphrasing U. S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, please remember this, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.”

SHORT TERM VACATION RENTALS IS AN EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY
December 7, 2020

" Vacasa lists more than 25,000 vacation rentals, from Manzanita to Myrtle Beach, taking a commission from the vacation homeowners on rentals booked through its site.” It employs more than 400 at its headquarters in Portland’s Pearl District and more than 6,000 worldwide,
most of them maintenance and cleaning personnel in its destination communities. Roberts said the company’s biggest hurdle in the immediate future will be maintaining operations as it continues rapidly adding employees and property listings.” “That’s a challenge,” Roberts said. “That’s a challenge for any successful, high-growth business.” https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2020/02/vacasa-founder-eric-breon-resigns-as-ceo-of-portland-vacation-rental-giant.html

Short-term vacation rentals (STRs) fuel an Extractive Industry dominated locally by Vacasa. Why extractive? Because it takes public resources and generates wealth that does not stay in the community.

Vacasa does not own the STRs. Vacasa doesn’t own any of the amenities that drew us to the residential neighborhoods of Oregon’s Central Coast. Vacasa has no responsibility to preserve our residential neighborhoods. Just like in other Extractive Industries such as Oil & Gas or Mining, Vacasa takes the property of others and generates wealth that does not lead to sustainable and inclusive growth in the communities where the extractive activity takes place.

The goal of an Extractive Industry is to maximize short-term value, not long-term investment. This Extractive Industry erodes our sense of community.  Like a parasite, Vacasa will ultimately injure or kill its host, namely, our neighborhoods. Unlike a symbiont, there is no mutually beneficial relationship between Vacasa and the neighborhoods in which it operates.

Lacking resources and overwhelmed with an unanticipated surge in STRs, the County relies on neighbors to enforce the law. Neighbors who just want to “live and let live” become known as snitches by Owner/Investors and sticklers by government regulators. Vacasa promotes an "us against them" mentality that changes relationships.

Who benefits from STRs? Not the residential neighborhoods where the money is made. Vacasa charges a 35% management fee, some no doubt remaining in the County. Sixty-five percent of the fee, however, is paid to Owner/Investors. Because fewer than 2% of them live in Lincoln County, this money is not re-invested where the adverse impact is so intensely felt.

Investor/Owners pay a Transient Room Tax, but by state law, 70% of that must be invested in tourist attractions and facilities, not the well-being of our residential neighborhoods. The hospitality industry balloons by providing poorly paid temporary jobs with no career potential, no pensions, no 401(k) plan with or without an employer match, and health insurance.  In our community, high school kids work to support their families. That's not right.

Vacasa and its stable of Investor/Owners buy furnishings and supplies, but so would residents if they were able to afford to live here and had a family wage job. Tourists spend money on food and entertainment, but so do residents. If resident families had sustainable employment and stable housing, we would be able to live in Lincoln County near where we work, paying our way 365 days a year, not just during the Season.

Vacasa doesn’t contribute to Emergency Preparedness, doesn't provide emergency supplies to its renters, subsidize our emergency medical and fire services, or contribute anything to infrastructure. The residents who derive fundamentally NO benefit from hosting this Industry pays to host! Vacasa, like all Extractive Industries, takes our community resources without a thought beyond the bottom line.

By flipping affordable housing from its intended residential use to a licensed business use, Vacasa forces families to move further from employment or out of the area to find employment. Our schools risk closure because they lose government funding when the census is too low. Closing schools has a domino effect on a community. Google “Arizona Re-Thinking Short-Term Rental Laws After Sedona Uproar” for an example.

Our residential neighborhoods, our homes, our families are mere resources to this Industry.  Like the Oregon Mining Company near Baker, the STR Industry takes what it wants and will leave when the resource is depleted.

In other words, responsible growth is not viewed as a challenge for a predatory industry. The challenge is to make as much money as you can as quickly as you can with as little risk as you can, no matter the destabilizing impact on our communities and culture. STRs are the Social Predators of the Hospitality Industry.

ARE RURAL NEIGHBORHOODS THE STR INDUSTRY'S FIRST RESPONDERS?
December 1, 2020

Impacts from natural disasters, including wildfires, earthquakes and tsunamis, will be profound in Lincoln County, especially in small, isolated neighborhoods. A few years ago, residents in various unincorporated neighborhoods began working on emergency preparations. Emergency Responders say that most of us will survive a disaster initially, but many neighborhoods will be cut off by destroyed roads and must plan to be self-sufficient for a minimum of two weeks while larger population centers get priority for relief.

The Depoe Bay Fire District provided emergency cache containers to some neighborhoods, which are responsible for stocking them with emergency supplies at their own expense, many thousands of dollars. Our cache currently provides Level One support for our 51 full-time residents, namely, shelter, water, rescue tools, sanitary supplies, medical supplies, and communication equipment. We do not have adequate supplies for a large number of transient renters.

The County began licensing STRs in 2016, allowing them in residential neighborhoods. It soon dawned on us how short term renters could overwhelm the resources we had responsibly set aside for emergency response. A nearby neighborhood has 96 homes. Of these, 45 are STRs licensed for eight to sixteen people. In a natural disaster, they could easily have an additional 500 or more stranded and unprepared renters, far outnumbering residents and quickly exhausting the supplies residents have cached. Water supplies in particular would be critical.

Some neighborhoods have reportedly asked STR Property Managers for cash donations for their caches, but have been refused.

This month as the Commissioners review whether to (1) continue to license STRs in residential neighborhoods, (2) adopt neighborhood-specific caps, and (3) restrict occupancy based on number of bedrooms, available parking, and septic capacity, please also consider the adequacy of our Emergency Response infrastructure. STRs compound the problem. Unless, at a minimum, the issues of neighborhood-specific caps on the number of STRs licensed and STR siting are addressed, neighborhood emergency resources can quickly be overwhelmed.

WHY 15neighborhoods STARTED AN ELECTRONIC PETITION DRIVE DURING A PANDEMIC
November 15, 2020

First, the 15neighborhoods Coalition agrees that Short Term Rental (STR) dwellings have a place in the Tourist Commercial Zones (C-T) of Unincorporated Lincoln County. Second, STRs don't work in Residentially-Zoned neighborhoods designed for families, not businesses.

Initially, the noise, traffic, spilled garbage, illegal parking, and general disruption of our neighborhoods prompted neighborhoods were the problem. Overtime, we learned that Lincoln City, Yachats, and Newport limited (1) the number of STRs and (2) their location and that Depoe Bay banned them in 1996. But Unincorporated Lincoln County has adopted no restrictions.

For Zoning purposes, it is reasonable to compare the STR to the Bed and Breakfast Inn. The Zoning Code defines a Bed and Breakfast Inn as a [occupied] residence with no more than two bedrooms available to rent for up to six renters. The Code prohibits a Bed and Breakfast Inn in Zone R-1-A. A variance is required in other Residential Zones. It is nonsense to give a business license to an STR with no on-site management (not even an on-site check-in) and sleeps up to fourteen in a Zone where a Bed and Breakfast Inn cannot legally operate.

The County’s temporary moratorium on new STR licensing ends on December 31, 2020. In the meantime, the licensed 601 STR daily churn hundreds of people who are unknown to us through our residential neighborhoods where we live with our children, grandchildren, and the elderly. It feels unsafe now. The average number of licensed renters is eight in Lincoln County, a neighborhood like Gleneden/Lincoln Beach with 184 STRs could have 1,472 renters on any given day. A small community like Otter Rock with 20 STRs and only 215 residents could find that 43% of its population are nonresidents, many living for the first time on septic systems.

In September 2020, we all experienced how ill-prepared Lincoln County is for natural disasters. Residents can't help but wonder: "Who tells the overnight renters what is happening, when to evacuate, and where to go?" According to public records, Lincoln County did not consider the density (people and cars) or the infrastructure (fire, medical, roadways, utilities, communication) demands when adopting the STR licensing program in 2016.

Sign the STR Petition (two places), date, mail it to 15neighborhoods, P.O. Box 390, Depoe Bay 97341. Then email your Commissioners. Ask them to (1) give business licenses STRs only to STRs in C-T Zones and (2) take steps now to phase them out of R-1, R-2 Zones within 5 years.
Chair, Commissioner Kaety Jacobson kjacobson@co.lincoln.or.us
Commissioner Claire Hall cehall@co.lincoln.or.us
Commissioner Doug dhunt@co.lincoln.or.us

VIOLATIONS WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES
November 7, 2020

There are over 600 licensed Short Term Vacation Rentals (STRs) in unincorporated Lincoln County, covering approximately 950 square miles. County records show the total number of occupants allowed by licenses is 4,954 or an average of just over 8 persons per rental; the actual occupant number is often higher. Many homeowners have personally observed renters not following the rules set forth by the County as they related to occupancy limits, noise, cars, pets, garbage, etc.

I wondered how many fines have been issued and how many licenses have been revoked. The answer may surprise you. When asked, one of the county Commissioners replied that they were not aware of any revocations. This licensing program was started in 2016.

So what is the process for dealing with complaints? Below is a summary of that portion of Ordinance 487 which explains the procedure for filing complaints:

Attempt communication with the person listed as the contact person on the license.
Wait for contact person to respond and remedy.
If said response or remedy is unsatisfactory to either party, provide a written complaint to the Lincoln County Licensing Authority. Fill out the County online complaint form, wait.
Hypothetically go through mediation between the parties.
Wait for written determination.
If the result is unsatisfactory, appeal must be filed within 30 days by either party via written appeal to the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners.

At the end of this process, the complaint could be determined to be a violation and count as 1 strike toward the 3 strikes which result in the loss of license provision of the ordinance. Following the determination for either party, there is again time to appeal a license suspension decision; another 30 day period.

Sheriff Landers and Officer Holmes (currently assigned to monitor STRs) have both commented that currently they must observe a complaint or violation in order to take any action; however, even with observation they have little authority to do anything. They can’t issue a fine or citation or enter a rental to assess occupancies.

With a territory as large as Lincoln County, they are woefully understaffed – currently having only 1 dedicated enforcement officer, with issues occurring in multiple neighborhoods at the same time, throughout the county. If an issue occurs on a weekend, there is no officer available to witness the violation at all.

An enforceable fine schedule, including a “3 strike” provision needs to be adopted. Photographic evidence from neighboring residents (date and time stamped with a smart phone) should be acceptable to allow officers to resolve issues. The cost of enforcement should not be used as an excuse for non-action. Raise the licensing fees to adequately fund appropriate enforcement. We need to support our Sheriff and enforcement officer by providing an effective way of handling complaints, streamlining the process and adopting a fine schedule that could be used by the officers to at least write a ticket.

The current complaint process is ineffective and should be updated. There has to be a better way for neighbors to lodge complaints and get closure on STR issues.

The Commissioners have repeatedly received this message from neighborhoods. Many examples of violations have been shared with commissioners as “Violations without Consequences”. Neighborhoods cannot coexist with STRs without proper enforcement of the existing Ordinances.

Provide the tools necessary to manage what, for some, has become an untenable situation.

THE NEWLY UNHOUSED: SHORT AND LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS
October 19, 2020

On any given night in Lincoln County how many people are homeless and out on our streets? I am contacting the Community Services Consortium to find out. I also want to know if that number has been rising since 2016 when the County let short term rentals (STRs) become licensed and made to pay transient-room-tax like hotels and motels. My opinion: a resounding YES.

You have seen them on your drives and walks no doubt, the people lying on benches, on the ground, in doorways. They may look like mounds of old clothes, tattered blankets or sleeping bags. But underneath all that fabric lies a person. A human being struggling to make it to the next day alive. You have seen the weather-beaten faces under the layers of soiled clothing, gaze down to their boots or shoes or bare feet too. See the hardship in front of your eyes and know that this is a person too. Underneath all of the layers, peeled back this could be any one of us. Know that.

Many of us are just one bad run of luck away from this fate. One job loss, one car repair, one health set-back and we too could be on that bench, in that doorway or on that grass.

Some of you say, “Me? No way, I have my savings, I am in good health, my job is secure.” Really? I thought that too until my husband lost his job of over 25 years and this is pre-covid pandemic too. This, ironically, was also in 2016. I will keep coming back to that year, 2016. My husband and I were fortunate, we were not unhoused, he found another job in less than a year.

And now, people are losing their jobs at a record rate and many will not come back and some of those have lost their homes too between the economic downturn and the fires. It is just one disaster after another and there is no safety net. Add to this equation a few children and an absent spouse and the situation becomes more dire by the minute. This, this is what not only our County but the Nation and world are facing. We are just smaller than most in terms of size and economics. Lincoln County is a county of about 50,000 residents. And we have 135 households (this statistic came from the Community Services Consortium from a January 2020 "Point in time" count) that are unhoused.

Households are any of the following: single individuals, couples, a single person with a child or children and couples with a child or children too “Unhoused” is a person or persons who do not have a place to live, living and sleeping on the streets, out of doors not in a permanent structure (could be in a tent for example). Those with “Housing Instability” are individuals or persons living in hotels, staying with family or friends but who do not have their own place to live. Come December 31, 2020 when the eviction hold is over, there will probably be an even greater need for housing in Lincoln County as many more people could find themselves newly unhoused. There are 1,000 Lincoln County children who are unhoused according to the Community Services Consortium and the Lincoln County School District (who provided the number to the CSC).

And what does Lincoln County do? It allows people who are developers or who own property to turn their properties into mini-motels for tourists instead of for full-time homes for people to live in. When people are struggling just to survive in our County, there are those who are so wealthy, so fortunate that they do not even have to live in their homes at all, they let others rent them out and those people pay their mortgages for them and not only do they pay those mortgages, but there is a huge surplus of profit that is made off those renters.

This is what the former Board of Commissioners (BOC) allowed when it passed Ordinance 487 on Short-term Rental Licensing that became effective on December 1, 2016. Now there are those who will rightfully say that they have rented out their homes for years before 2016 and it has been how they are able to afford to keep that property and they are not taking housing stock away from the County or the residents of this County. Maybe. But let us turn our attention to those who do this as a business, not a side-hustle, but a true money-making, for-profit business. These are the people and the issue I want to get to.

There are a number of people who own not one but more than one of these properties (STRs) and who have set up limited licensed corporations (LLCs) to operate their multiple properties like a corporation, a money making endeavor pure and simple. These people and their LLCs are not located in Lincoln County. They are often not even in our State. They extract the resources from Lincoln County and take them to whatever state or area they live in. Take from and bring elsewhere. Take from Lincoln County and bring to California, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Portland etc. And, there are no parameters, no limits to how many of these STRs one person, or again, corporation, can own.

So that nice two bedroom home that a family could be living in full time either as long term renters or owners, no, no that is now an STR, a short-term rental for tourists. Off the market and out of the housing pool for residents.

How many times have you heard your friends say they wished they could find a place to rent long-term in Lincoln County but there just are not any to be found? Or they wish they could live closer to work but the prices here are just too high on their salary to afford anything? Well, I have heard this many, many times. In fact, the woman I spoke with at the CSC is now living in Neskowin because that is the nearest place where she and her husband could find an affordable place to live.

If Lincoln County does not get a better handle on this issue and quickly, Lincoln County will be just like Bend or San Francisco where the workers in our County will have to live an hour or more away from work due to the high housing costs and large number of STRs which remove housing stock from both would-be owners who would live there and long term renters.

And, because our cities in Lincoln County have wisely set up parameters for STRs the County has lagged far behind and that is why unincorporated Lincoln County has 601 of these nightly rentals and no way to put the brakes on them popping up everywhere in the unincorporated areas. Investors looking for existing properties that could be licensed as STRs are being directed to unincorporated County because there are no location restrictions or caps. There are more STR licenses issued in unincorporated Lincoln County than building permits.

But wait, there is a way to stop this, it is our Initiative Petition.

Then we can get this measure on the May 18, 2021 ballot and let voters decide if they want to stop this now or let every home become a short-term rental and make residents second class citizens in their own home county.

SHORT-TERM RENTALS: COMPLIANCE and ENFORCEMENT
October 14, 2020

I've struggled, trying to sort out what would be helpful to:

1. Your understanding of the current "Compliance and Enforcement" scheme of STR Ordinance 487.
2. My conclusion that it is ineffective based on personal experience.
3. Suggestions about what the County could change to improve its approach to “Compliance” and “Enforcement” of STR Business Licensing.

Some people mistakenly question the need to talk about issues such as County-wide caps, Neighborhoods-specific caps, Occupancy Limits, Violations and Complaints (garbage, noise, parking), Implementation of the septic program, and Enforcement because the Petition, if passed, will fix things.

However, we have to remember that the Petition proposes a five-year phase-out. In the interim, the County will need to develop a regulatory program that allows the neighborhoods and STRs to coexist in the residential neighborhoods.

Ordinance 487, adopted in 2016, is available at https://www.co.lincoln.or.us/sheriff/page/short-term-rental-licensing. Ordinance 487 is the STR Ordinance. It sets out the STR regulatory and licensing program. It was amended in 2019 to address public health issues due to septic system failure by Ordinance 509.

It is important to know that in Lincoln County, STR Code enforcement is Complaint driven. There are no unannounced inspections by the County of the existing 601 licensed STRs. The Local Contacts are not required to submit self-monitoring reports. Complaints are generated by the community (neighborhoods).

The STR "tip and complaint" Enforcement program rests solely on the cooperating residential neighbors' shoulders. However, both the County and neighbors share a vested interest in maintaining our residential neighborhoods. Neighbors will cooperate when (1) they know what to do and (2) when they see results.

The neighbors within 250 feet of the STR are deemed to "know" what to do because the County sends a postcard "Notice to Neighborhood of Lincoln County Short Term Rental Approval" with a link to the newly revised and now excellent Licensing Program website.

However, residential neighbors see no lasting results. The County has an unrealistic expectation of what happens when the STR Owner/Property Managers' interest in meaningful compliance when its illegally-sited business collides with families' legal rights to the "quiet enjoyment of their property" guaranteed by Residential Zoning. Miroco's first-hand experience, documented by Complaints and Case Studies, demonstrates the tension created by the County's decision to license business in Residential zones.

At some point, neighborhoods give up. Why? Because while a call to the Local Contact (Property Manager) will 99.9% of the time resolve the immediate violation, it will not resolve the problem of the same violation recurring at the same STR with each new set of renters.

For instance, recurring violations of spilled garbage, which is first and foremost a public health issue, are deemed "resolved" when the Local Contact picks it up. The fact that the violation recurs weekly at the same STR never rises to the County's attention. So long as the Local Contact responds within an undefined but reasonable time (30 minutes? 2 hours? 1 day?), a "strike" is never issued regardless of the frequency of the same occurrence at the same STR. [Vacasa tells me that the Owner has to authorize a larger bin or the construction of a cage for the bin. Who notifies the Owner and when?]

In her One Year Update on Ordinance 487 to the BOC in February 2018, STR Licensing Program Manager Lisa Combs reported no Complaints. However, many violations were reported to the Local Contacts (Steps 1 and 2) and resolved before Step 3, when an unresolved Complaint goes to the County. Ordinance 487 does not require that the Local Contact report the Complaint to the County. The result is that the County has no idea of the impact of this business in residential neighborhoods.

I wonder whether this was the intent, not by Lincoln County, but by the Industry proponents of this Regulatory Model that was shared with small, local jurisdictions such as Lincoln County and widely adopted as a benign means to generate revenue. Thisprobably explains why it appears in Ordinance 487. Even so, is STR licensing and regulation, including compliance and enforcement, consistent with how business licensing works in Lincoln County? For instance,

1. Does the County rely exclusively upon the restaurant diner to report rodents were seen in a restaurant or a neighbor to report an unlicensed electrician is installing wiring?

2. If so, can the tipster remain anonymous initially? [An STR tipster cannot. LCC 4.45, Steps 1 and 2. This results in hard feelings and angry outbursts.]

3. Is the violation "resolved" when the tipster and the business figure out a way to resolve the violation without notification to the County, even when the tipster merely looks the other way? [LC 4.45 allows for this. I suppose a neighbor could be reimbursed for the trouble.]

4. Does the County independently monitor the compliance of a business licensee? [Although not required by Ordinance 487, County policy is to inspect before licensing. Is this an actual written policy that residents can rely on or just a recommended practice that may or may not is followed in the future? What is included on the Inspection Checklist?]

5. What is the County's response when a violation is discovered?

6. What is the County's response to recurring violations? [STR Ordinance does not define 'recurring violation.' A 'recurring violation' cannot reach Step 3 if the Local Contact responds.]

The BOC was surprised, I'm told, when the Miroco Neighborhood proposed in January 2019 that an STR Program review be added to the BOC's 2019 Work Plan. Understandably, it had no notice of problems unless neighbors skipped the Compliant process and appealed directly to the BOC. Unless you are in the Industry, how would ordinary constituents even know this is an option or have time to figure out what to do?

This is not a responsibility people expect to assume when living in a residential neighborhood. Until STRs are phased out, there will be problems with renters complying with a Code they do not know exists and Owner/Managers failing to manage violations meaningfully.

I have heard Sweet Home and Vacasa representatives state at public meetings that "we need better enforcement," but neighbors need better compliance and less involvement. In a Complaint-driven enforcement program that relies exclusively on neighbors to report violations, how is this possible?

Case-by-case (or renter group-by-renter group) compliance does not change either Management behavior or Owner expectations (of management).

Until STRs are phased-out, the County needs to overhaul its "Compliance and Enforcement" scheme for transient lodging business operating in Residential Zones.

Aa new approach for Residential Zones, until STRs are phased out, should (1) achieve timely compliance by a group of renters through the Local Contact AND (2) hold the Owners and Managers accountable for the renters' noncompliance through enforcement. Enforcement would include fining Managers and counting "strikes" against the Owners for each proven allegation.

But, what is 'proof’? Will the County accept a neighbor’s testimony as proof? It didn’t during the COVID-19 Moratorium.

Growth and Climate Refugees
October 10, 2020

Growth. What kind of growth does our County want? Do we want growth that fits our small communities or growth that overruns it with too much of everything, both bad and good? The choice is ours and that of our elected officials to oversee what happens to our communities.

Today, as the west coast burns again, and the south floods again, and the desert heats up again, where are the people moving in America? Oregon is one of those places. And the Oregon Coast is one of the spots where growth is being felt. I am merely looking at my own neighborhood, a small microcosm of the whole if you will.

In my neighborhood of 50 plus homes, I have seen all but one of the seven homes that were for sale during 2020 either be sold or have a sale pending offer and that is during this pandemic and aftermath of our recent fires. In a time of great upheaval and uncertainty, people are still buying homes, making great changes in their lives and moving to rural locations.

What reasons do people have for relocating in a time of COVID-19 and wildfires? Some are probably fleeing worse situations related to climate change, “climate refugees” they are called. Two of the new owners or families of owners, in our neighborhood, are from California. California has had a very terrible fire season, so those could be climate refugees. Other owners are from large cities and we saw in the early stages of the pandemic how cities fared far worse than rural areas with the virus. So those too could be fleeing the urban centers in favor of a more relaxed, “safer” environment in this time of COVID-19. The other homes are pending so I cannot say where those owners are from or what any of those new owners are planning to do, will they live here full time? Will these be vacation or second homes for them or will they make them STRs and rent them out? I don’t know. I only know that this is a major change in our neighborhood.

What happens when areas grow at so fast a rate that the infrastructure is not in place for that growth to be accommodated? What happens when growth is so unchecked that it disrupts the order of things? That is what has happened with STRs in unincorporated Lincoln County.

Lincoln County opened the door to these in 2016 with their licensing program. It was an attempt to regulate and bring under the umbrella all the STRs operating in unincorporated Lincoln County and to bring some order to the chaos of who was openly operating one and who was flying under the radar. However, this program has become unmanageable at the county level. Cities have regulated them in many ways: with caps, limits on the number of STRs, or limits on days they can be rented out, limits on occupancies of STRs or with areas that are free from STRs altogether.

However, in unincorporated Lincoln County the owners and management companies still have all the benefits and bear little of the costs of these rentals that residents must bear. For example, Lincoln County promised to have two Code Enforcement Officers to handle the complaints and issues at these rental properties. We found out this year that they are still only part time on the enforcement and neither is working nights or weekends (one works on Sundays but most of the problems occur on Friday and Saturdays).

We have informed the Sheriff’s Department, the BOC and Lincoln County Legal Counsel repeatedly (both in writing and in oral testimony at their meetings and STR workshops from 2019) that there needs to be someone working weekends and nights when the problems at these properties occur. This is what management companies and owners have asked for too, at those same meetings. Because each time we, the residents of a given area, complain about a specific STR, the owners and management companies say, report that STR and get that one removed or cited for the problem but don’t eliminate all of them because of a “few bad apples.”

What the owners and management companies fail to understand is that we, residents, have done this, we follow the complaint process, we file online, we call the local contacts (providing we can reach them) and nothing happens. Nada, zilch. We ask the Sheriff’s Department, “How many STRs have had their licenses revoked due to the “three strikes policy” or have been denied a license?” The answer is no revocations and last I heard, three denials. Three out of our 601 that are in existence.

So as we grow as a county and an area for the influx of climate refugees, former city dwellers, and people who are looking for some solace in these very stressful times, we need our county to put in place some safeguards for those of us who live here full-time whether we rent or own our homes. And for those who are here whose homes burned and were displaced by the fires who now need an affordable home, the county must help them return to their standard of living that they had pre-fire.

We must protect our own and help those who come in need of housing. And by returning STRs to the long term rental pool or full time housing stock for Lincoln County, we help those in need much more than the two-night renter who would have stayed there when the property was an STR. We must grow in an orderly fashion and assist those who need help. We cannot just be a county of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. The rich will all be fine. The rich do not need us to cater to them, they get that everywhere. We need to help those who have too little, not too much. There needs to be a balance here in Lincoln County and right now, things appear to be very much out of balance.

If you are concerned about growth, housing, diversity, equity, inclusion, fairness and of course, your neighborhoods, please sign our petition. And by all means, vote this November. Everything depends upon your vote, you matter, do not let anyone tell you you do not.

County Crumbles Under the Weight of Too Much Growth and Not Enough Careful Planning
October 3, 2020

Well, we hope everyone had a nice last few days of September and you are ready to move right on into autumn. But for a moment, we want to revisit the past summer, or as many residents call it, tourist season.

This past summer, unofficially from June 1st through Labor Day, was very unusual in that we were in the midst of a deadly coronavirus pandemic. Over 200,000 Americans have died and that number continues to rise as to our cases of the disease. And now our President and First Lady have the coronavirus. So here is this week's question: Should we allow tourism to continue during a pandemic? Or, should we allow only residents in our county at such an unprecedented time?

Personally, I was completely taken aback by the sheer number of people who decided to go on vacation when COVID-19 was flaring in America. It was a real shock that of all the things to do, going on a vacation was their priority. People acted like a mere few months at home was equivalent to 20 years in prison and come hell or highwater they were breaking out and taking a trip!

And, travel they did, by car. I have seen the license plates this summer, from all over the United States and Canada they came to Lincoln County.

To this writer, this is the last thing I would be doing with a deadly disease lurking and people refusing to take the proper precautions of hand-washing, mask wearing and social distancing. Why do you decide to go on a trip at this time? What is the reason to do this at this potentially dangerous, even deadly time? And why, why did our Governor and local government bodies not stop tourists from other states, especially hot-spot areas from coming to Oregon?

When Lincoln County had the outbreak of cases at the Pacific Seafood plant in Newport we could easily have shut down Lincoln County by closing three roads: Highway 18, Route 20 and the 101 South of Yachats. That is all it would have taken, closing three roads for Lincoln County to work through the outbreak and not infect others at the same time. State Police or officers from Lincoln City and Newport would be stationed at each of the roads coming into our County and would turn cars away with out-of-state driver's licenses unless the driver could identify someone they were taking care of or if they were a first responder with a local fire department, clinic or hospital.

But did we do that, no. Then we had the devastating fires and again, the tourists were here. License plates again and not just the usual Washington and California crowd. Illinois, Michigan, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Hawaii, Alaska...

Tourists will always come and they will do things like climb over barriers, get knocked into the cold Pacific waters and need the Coast Guard to rescue them. They will do things that residents don't dare to do, like trespass on others' property, leave their children unsupervised and generally act like they have lost their minds when on vacation.

Perhaps this is a real phenomenon, "vacation mind," when you lose control of your faculties and expect everyone else to take care of you as if you were at a four star resort. Except you aren't. When you stay in a short-term-rental, you are in OUR neighborhoods. The first clue should be all the single family homes, the next clue is no check in building with a lobby, no restaurants, no pool, no tennis courts and no gigantic parking lot!

Yes, we are not a resort area, we are single family neighborhoods and we want to stay that way! You want resort amenities? By all means stay at one of our lovely hotels or motels in Lincoln County, there are all kinds to suit all budgets. And they do have many of the above amenities too! Oh, and please wait until the pandemic is over before you visit again, thank you for staying home and saving lives until then.

Tired of Lincoln County elected officials not doing right by residents?

Wish you could stop STR renters from ruining your peace and quiet or sanity in a time of crisis?

Sick of being an unpaid police officer in your neighborhood patrolling loose dogs, children or trash?

Wish there was something you could do to protect yourself and your family from the threat of outsiders bringing in the virus?

Tired of sitting by while our County crumbles under the weight of too much growth and not enough careful planning?

Time to Revise our Thinking about Emergency STR Evacuation Planning in High-Density Residential Neighborhoods
September 28, 2020

September has been quite the month for Lincoln County and all of Oregon and the entire west coast. And now, many of our friends and neighbors are picking up the pieces of their lives and figuring out what to do next after the Echo Mountain Fire Complex upended everything. As we try in our own small ways to help, I would like to touch upon one positive issue from the fire.

There was a lot written about how there was no clear communication about the fire for Lincoln County residents, which is true. My perspective is not from someone who had to evacuate, so it is not as relevant as those who had to flee your homes. But here is my piece of good news on the communication front:

In our neighborhood, we lost power on the first day of the fire. Several trees were knocked down by the high wind just south of Depoe Bay. Power was off for a little over 12 hours. We could not get any information except for on our transistor radio. When power returned, we got our updates from KSHL, the country music station in Lincoln City. They had updates and were great at informing us about the local impact of the Echo Mountain Fire.

KSHL was our lifeline that week when the power came back, but our internet went out! We had lights now but no internet. So back to KSHL again for updates and where to go to donate to those who had to evacuate in Otis and Lincoln City.

And yes, the County does need to do a better job with communication. Neighbors told us what their families who live out of the area saw on Facebook about the fire. Many of the things we heard on Facebook were false. KSHL told us the worst things we had heard were rumors, total fabrications, and completely untrue. KSHL really helped my husband, and I decide to stay here while keeping our "go bags" packed and in the car. After hearing the rumors, we were ready to leave, but our area was not even under a "level one" order. That is the power of lies, and all of us need to know when lies are being told, and a disaster is not the time to sort through truth and rumor when you may be fighting for your very life.

Now, what does this have to do with STRs? You might be asking yourself. That is a good and fair question. Well, I have heard from those who did have to evacuate that the traffic was horrendous! It took many people hours to go just a few miles, and lines at gas stations were also very, very long. Friends, we just don't have that many people in our County to account for the line of solid traffic from one end of Highway 101 to Route 20, but that is what happened.

Many residents feel that the traffic jam was caused, in part, because of tourists, short-term renters who panicked and tried to get out of town whether they were affected by the fire or not. This is my subject for this week: Does our Emergency Response plan include short-term renters? Do we have enough First Responders to help everyone, including our County's thousands of overnight guests?

When you stay in a hotel or motel, there is always a diagram, usually on the back of the door, showing the emergency exits, stairwells, and routes to get out of your room and out of the hotel in case of an emergency. Do STRs have such information? Do they have an evacuation route? For a tsunami, say? Does it have road names, meeting places, or routes to follow?

I don't know because each property is different, there is no standard for these mini-motels. In our neighborhood, we have six STRs and three management companies that oversee five of them. At the same time, one is privately managed by the owner. Do you think there is any one rule that applies to all six where safety is concerned? Or for the hundreds of STRs in Lincoln City? Or the 601 in unincorporated Lincoln County?

So who made the decision for STR renters to evacuate? Did management companies alert these guests to the fire in Otis? Or did renters find out for themselves? What was the plan for them? Where would they all go once they left Lincoln City? Has anyone in Lincoln City given this any thought at all? Who is coordinating a mass exodus like what happened after Labor Day on our coast?

With a clear communication plan from our local leaders, only those under a Level 3 evacuation order should have been on our roads on September 8th and 9th. All hotels and STRs should have stopped the tourists from coming by calling those not already at the properties and informing them of the fire danger and allowing them to cancel without being charged for their stay, no penalty. Then they could set aside their rooms and properties for the evacuees from North Lincoln County. This would have kept both tourists and County residents safe at the same time.

This is why we ask for Lincoln County residents who are registered voters in Lincoln County to read and sign our petition to stop the unregulated growth of the number of STRs in unincorporated Lincoln County. If you are fed up with the lack of affordable housing, the traffic or parking issues in your neighborhood because of STRs, the noise, garbage, or trespassing of STR renters on your property because renters think they rent out the whole neighborhood when they rent a single home for the weekend.

If you have filed a complaint about any of the above issues and were told nothing would happen to the manager or owner of that STR because the complaint was "resolved," yet the problem continued with the next set of registers ...

If you are having to pick up after renters or their dogs ....

If you are fed up with the traffic in your neighborhood from people who do not live there....

If this summer was worse than others due to the younger, ruder, and more unruly renters of STRs...

​Views from the Steering Committee

Views from the Steering Committee