By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews
Following a 90-minute hearing Friday, Lincoln County circuit judge Joseph Allison said he hopes to rule by the end of the week on challenges to the county’s ordinance regulating vacation rentals in unincorporated areas.
Allison scheduled another hearing with lawyers for 11:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 29 but said he “will do my best” to get a written ruling out before then.
Allison has already signaled his intentions on the main issue fought by 20 vacation rental owners who sued to stop the county’s ordinance more than a year ago.
At the end of a hearing Dec. 4, Allison said he believes the ordinance regulating vacation rentals does not fall under Oregon’s land-use laws and the county can oversee more than 500 of them through its business licensing program. But he has twice said that he expects the losing party to appeal his decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Friday’s hearing was for attorneys representing the vacation rental owners and the county to follow up written arguments whether other parts of the ordinance – the definition of events, occupancy and septic requirements, and the county’s administrative hearings process – were “unconstitutionally vague.”
Allison also indicated he would have to determine whether he could approve the main part of the county ordinance and still determine that parts of it were too vague and strike that portion of the ordinance down.
The history
The county’s ordinance is an attempt to get a handle on the growing number of vacation rentals in unincorporated areas since 2016. But commissioners struggled for years to work out regulations and to put an ordinance in place.
That led to a citizen-led ballot measure in November 2021 to phase out vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods. Commissioners tried unsuccessfully to undercut it by passing a number of changes to an existing ordinance just days before voters resoundingly approved it.
A coalition of property owners appealed both the ballot measure and the updated county ordinance to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, contending both were land-use measures.
LUBA ruled in 2022 that the voter-approved ballot measure conflicted with Oregon land-use law and declared it invalid. But LUBA twice said the county’s revised ordinance was not a zoning or land-use issue, that it had no jurisdiction over it and sent the rental-owner’s lawsuit back to circuit court.
Vacation rental owners appealed the LUBA decisions to the Oregon Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments Dec. 4. In that case, rental owners are challenging part of the county ordinance that created seven geographic areas – or zones – where they then set specific densities and numbers for the number of vacation rental licenses.
Vacation rentals in unincorporated areas once numbered more than 600. Now there are 506, after the county prohibited the transfer of licenses to new owners and put a moratorium on issuing new ones in most unincorporated areas. Under the county’s latest ordinance, they are supposed to eventually drop to 181 in five designated areas outside of the seven cities in Lincoln County.
Vagueness arguments
On Friday, vacation rental owner attorney Heather Brann said the county improperly delegated authority to staff to develop septic requirements that were not in the ordinance, that the definition of prohibited events was too vague, and that there were no standards for enforcement.
“The standards are absent … and leaves it wide open to make up the rules as they go,” Brann said, arguing commissioners cannot delegate authority to the sheriff’s office, planning department and county counsel. “… it makes it likely that the law could treat one person one way and another person another way.”
But Emily Matasar, one of two outside attorneys representing the county, said that none of the issues Allison singled out for arguments Friday met the state’s legal standard for “constitutional vagueness.”
Allison questioned why there was no appointment procedure for a hearings officer to ensure impartiality, how occupancy limits were tied to septic standards, and that there were no details of prohibited events in the ordinance.
For example, he said, as a crowd control measure the ordinance prevented weddings in vacation rentals. But, he asked, what if a wedding involved just two people and the person marrying them?
“How is it not discriminatory to prevent a wedding in an STR that complies with occupancy requirements?” he asked. “Under the county’s ordinance, they’re not allowed to get married there.”
In rebuttal, Matasar said the intent of the ordinance was to not prevent weddings, “but large events in a residential zone.”
- Quinton Smith is the editor of YachatsNews.com and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com
504 vacation rentals … that’s a lot of taxes. Not to mention the amount of out of towners that spend money in local stores and restaurants. You can’t have it both ways. My house is surrounded by them. I don’t see the problem. Also most people here knew it is a vacation community when they moved here.
All of the lawsuits filed since the County passed the Ordinance requiring a business license for STRs only in unincorporated Lincoln County. The lawsuits do challenge the cities’ business licensing schemes.
In Dec 2016 when the County started requiring business licenses, the County estimated that the number of STRs operating in the unincorporated areas was 90. The residential neighborhoods outside of the seven cities did not have many STRs. In 2016, my neighborhood of 50 homes had one STR. By March 2020 when the licensing Moratorium went unto effect, the County had licensed 601 STRs. Our home was now sandwiched between two of the now 8 new STRs in my neighborhood. When the STRs were fully occupied, renters out numbered full-time residents. In other words, my neighborhood changed to a resort.
80% of the lodging taxes paid are required by state law to be used to “promote tourism” and cannot be used to fix roads, add emergency responders, or replace damage done by increased wear and tear on our infrastructure by the licensed 1,488 STRs now operating in the unincorporated county and our cities.
Lincoln City has the most STRs per capita and the lowest average wages in the area. STRs support a low-waged hospitality economy.
Six of the seven cities and unincorporated Lincoln County have limits or caps on the number of allowable licenses. All have waiting lists. Waldport needs a cap.
We too are surrounded by Vacation Rentals. 506 rentals? When is enough, enough? We would love to have actual neighbors/neighborhood. We did know there were many vacation rentals. Had no idea there were so many.. What about people who want to move here permanently? Sad situation. Why waste our taxpayer’s dollars to vote on these important issues when they end up in court and lawyers’ pockets. Praying for the best outcome.
What is not vague and can be measured quite effectively is over burdening a septic system. What is not vague are the negative health effects of a leaking system or overtaxed sand filtration system. What is not vague is the often noted overcrowding ( by sometimes 6-7 vehicles ) in many STRs. What is not vague is the majority (about 60%) of unincorporated residents who voted for Measure 21-203, signaling that “democracy” trumps “profit for the few” who demand that many mini-hotels be parked in residential neighborhoods. What is not vague is the high cost in legal fees generated by a “few” STR owners, to the county which is trying to defend the democratic voice of the many.
As a wedding officiant and life long resident of Lincoln County I agree wholeheartedly with preventing weddings and other gatherings in STR’s. Visitors from large cities do not understand how septic systems work and I have arrived to perform simple elopements where there are more than 30 guests all staying in the same house. They bring air mattresses. They bring sleeping bags and refer to it as glamping (glamour camping). They laugh and joke about how cramped/crowded it is.
Secondly, I am so thankful to the Commissioners and the voters for attempting to bring down the total number of STR’s. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The Canadians, New Yorkers,etc.. who own these places and pay the larger vacation rental companies to manage them don’t realize how poorly managed they are. One example is none of the larger companies drive past at night to count the car totals.
I was sadly surprised to find out recently my residential community in unincorporated Lincoln County is estimated to be 60% STRs, much more than I thought. That is well over 60 homes not available for the citizens of our area. Yes, some are the more expensive ocean front homes that STR owners claim citizens could never afford anyway, but the majority are a mix of medium size to small older homes with no ocean view that would make wonderful homes for families and retirees. You know, the people who make up neighborhoods.
I think that the high percentage of STR’s in my community and the fact many are not ocean front homes clearly shows that too much of our housing stock is vulnerable to being added to the STR pile.
And please don’t give the tired argument “just build more housing”….an ocean in front of us, hills and forest behind us, so where, how??
No one is saying STR businesses do not have their place, but that place should be in business and heavy tourist areas, and not in every residential community in Lincoln County.
I don’t really see the problem in having the many STR’s. The community I live in has ALWAYS been know for being STR’s until someone thought homeowners should be forced to rent those same homes to the public for month to month or yearly leases. The STR’s bring in much needed revenue. The problem is rents have increased so much everywhere that it takes two or three families to rent one home and that just doesn’t work. Then by the time you have paid 1st and last plus and deposits it is impossible to get into a rental anymore. I am surprised that people think moving to the coast is the answer, the jobs on the coast pay less than if you are in the larger cities and there isn’t that much work available to begin with. There are very few rentals on the coast and not many jobs, What rentals there are, are very hard for most to afford on what their income is.