By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Lincoln County commissioners are joining other coastal counties and cities by wading into the controversial issue of tighter regulations — and possible limits — on vacation rentals.
In the county’s case it would apply only to unincorporated areas outside cities like Yachats, Newport and Lincoln City, which have their own vacation rental regulations.
Lincoln County started licensing rentals three years ago and now has 518 in unincorporated areas, or about 4 percent of the 13,800 homes outside of cities.
On Wednesday county commissioners started what will be a months-long process to review broader standards but more quickly address issues with septic systems and enforcement.
But the question of whether vacation rentals disrupt residential neighborhoods quickly came to a head when nine of 12 people testifying during a public comment period asked for a cap on rentals in their areas.
Most of those speaking came from the Morocco neighborhood near Depoe Bay or Surfland south of Newport.
“Would you buy a house next to a motel? Or two motels?” asked Craig Bryan, who lives in the Morocco development. “That’s what we’re contending with now.”
County counsel Wayne Belmont told commissioners that his office will look to other coastal counties and cities for “best practices” in vacation rental regulations. But he recommended two quicker fixes – probably within 30 days — on two issues.
Belmont said 65 percent of the county’s licensed rentals are on septic tanks. There are no septic permit records for any houses built in Lincoln County before 1972, he said, including 50 properties with rental licenses.
Septic permits and rental occupancy limits are in conflict, Belmont said, with the number of people permitted in homes often greater than the septic system’s capacity. The fix, he said, would be to base vacation rental occupancy limits on septic system capacity, not the number of bedrooms.
“This is likely going to result in a reduction in maximum occupancy levels than what there is currently,” Belmont said. “… but this is a public health issue.”
Belmont said the other, simpler issue is requiring signs visible to the public and neighbors of how to contact rental managers. The county should also look at its complaint procedures and verification, which is now handled by the sheriff’s support services department and a newly-hired code enforcement deputy.
Belmont said the county should also clarify how quickly rental owners or managers must respond to complaints.
Should there be limits?
But the thorniest issue will be whether to limit the number of licenses.
The city of Yachats in 2017 instituted a cap of 125 licenses after they climbed to 145, more than 20 percent of available houses. It is now looking at potential revisions to the two-year pilot program before it expires in September. The Newport City Council last month passed a comprehensive set of rental restrictions, including phasing out of rental licenses in residential neighborhoods away from tourist areas. In special zones near tourist areas there would be a 180-license limit.
Belmont said Clatsop or Tillamook counties, which have rental regulations, are not limiting licenses.
He told commissioners that stricter regulations and possible limits – countywide or in certain areas – would need to be researched over several months and then vetted through an extensive public comment period.
Commissioner Kaety Jacobson stressed the need to map vacation rental locations “as a critical piece of information.”
While 4 percent of houses in the county licensed as vacation rentals seems like a low number, Commissioner Doug Hunt said the impact in certain areas is much greater. And, he said, “as cities stepped up their code enforcement and set limits it pushed problems into the unincorporated areas.”
Nine of the 12 people testifying agreed with that.
James Colby and Diane Eckstein, who live in the Surfland area south of Newport, said the growing number of vacation rentals has damaged the character of their neighborhood.
Eckstein said of the 19 homes facing the ocean in their neighborhood, nine to 10 have become vacation rentals.
“The 4 percent doesn’t apply to us,” she said. “It is overwhelming to no longer have a neighborhood.”
The contingent from Morocco near Depoe Bay said the number of vacation rentals in their neighborhood has eroded property values because of problems – parking, partying, trash, light and noise – that accompanies many visitors.
But Bruce Trent, who owns a vacation rental in that same neighborhood, Joel Smith of Seal Rock, and Jamie Michel of Yachats-based Sweet Homes Vacation Rentals, pushed back against limits or too-tight regulations.
Trent said Morocco neighbors have not complained to him about any problems, that septic issues are a countywide problem, not just with rentals, and that any issues can be solved easier by improved code enforcement.
Smith said his Seal Rock vacation rental is a family investment and his goal “is to retire here.” He said he uses local contractors and services to maintain his property and their guests shop and dine at local businesses.
“We’re contributing and investing in this area,” he said.
Michel, who has been Sweet Homes’ point person on licensing issues up and down the coast, said her company is a “huge proponent” of policies that address guest behavior and code enforcement. Of their 85 rentals on the coast, she said, 36 are in unincorporated Lincoln County.
“Shame on county government for not enforcing its current good neighbor policies,” she told the commissioners.
Michel urged Morocco and Surfland residents to use their neighborhood associations or land-use convenants to regulate rentals in their areas.
She reminded commissioners that vacation rentals are a “huge employment source” on the coast, that rentals contribute to the county’s 10 percent lodging tax and that commissioners might be opening themselves up to “taking” of private property should it set rental limits.
“You control our industry because we need licenses,” Michel said.
To follow Lincoln County’s vacation rental process, go to: https://www.co.lincoln.or.us/boc/page/short-term-rental-licensing
To see Newport’s new vacation rental license code, go to: https://www.newportoregon.gov/dept/cdd/documents/SummaryKeyChangesNewportShort-TermRentalRegulations.pdf