By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Motels and short-term rentals in unincorporated Lincoln County are now the only lodging facilities that have to wait 24 hours before housekeepers can enter to clean them.
The county and many cities adopted the rule in mid-May to help protect lodging employees and visitors from getting or spreading the coronavirus.
But under increasing pressure by the lodging industry to free up more rooms, cities have been dialing back on the requirement – either dropping it or scaling back to three hours.
On Wednesday, the city of Yachats became the last city to drop the “24-hour hold” rule, immediately implementing just a one-hour requirement.
On Monday, Lincoln County commissioners voted 2-1 to continue its 24-hour hold on lodging in unincorporated areas of the county.
Five other cities, including Newport and Lincoln City, already lowered the requirement to three hours; Waldport never implemented the restriction.
Commissioners debated the inconsistences of different requirements for different areas of the county, acknowledging that Newport and Lincoln City have the bulk of motels and vacation rentals and allow cleaners to enter after three hours.
The lodging industry is pressing the county to drop the 24-hour rule, saying it limits available rooms by 30 percent.
Commissioner Doug Hunt, who made the motion to keep the rule until at least Aug. 18, said the county should be the leader in protecting lodging workers and the community – even if it means fewer visitors.
“Yes, it limits rooms and visitors … and I think we should do everything we can reasonably do to limit spread.”
Hunt and Commissioner Claire Hall voted to extend the 24-hour hold; commission chair Kaety Jacobson voted no, saying the rule had lots its effectiveness when Newport and Lincoln City dropped the requirement.
On Wednesday, Yachats council members said they had received lots of letters and emails from motel and vacation rental owners detailing the protection they are providing employees. There are also questions whether 24 hours is necessary to let viruses in rooms die on their own.
Gregory Staneruck of the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association said Lincoln County and Yachats were the only jurisdictions in Oregon with the 24-hour hold. He urged the Yachats council to trust lodging operators to do everything they could to protect guests and employees.
“Demonstrate faith in these businesses,” Staneruck said.
Anthony Muirhead, general manager of the Adobe Motel, told the Yachats council that he was listening in Monday when county commissioners made their decision and was upset they thought lodging operators would jeopardize employees’ health.
“We are in survival mode,” Muirhead said. “The idea that the bottom line is our only priority is incorrect.”
The Yachats council agreed, voting unanimously to immediately implement the 1-hour hold rule.
“I know they know it’s in their best interest to get this thing under control,” said Councilor Jim Tooke, or risk being shut down again.
So….council member Tooke questions the validity of objections to his pet street project destroying the last green space in Yachats, but bends to the will of “numerous emails and comments “ from the lodging industry, to vote for a one hour rule? Perhaps the 41 states reporting increased cases of COVID is just a fabrication as well? We deserve more forward thinking in this area during these unprecedented times.
Had a nice safe Yachats stay in June. Will not come back now that you have dropped 24 hour rule. Are you paying any attention to what happens when rules are relaxed? I guess you don’t care since the guests will get sick later. You are giving the message money is more important than employee and guest safety.
Presumably the person cleaning is the one at risk and the room is fully sanitized by the time the cleaner is finished, so no worries for you.
Is there a known spate of housecleaners who have contracted the virus through their work? Or is there instead no real evidence of transmission through this route?