By KENNETH LIPP/YachatsNews
Lincoln County is set to issue its first new vacation rental licenses in three years following the first drawing in a new lottery system currently only open to applicants with properties on the east side of U.S. Highway 101.
With limits on licenses in seven geographic zones adopted by commissioners in January, it will likely be years before any new licenses are granted in zones 1-5, which partition the county from north to south on the west side of Highway 101.
All of those zones are currently well above their 2 percent caps — a maximum of two out of every 100 addresses can be licensed as a vacation rental — and the only way to get below that level is for properties to be sold or licenses surrendered or revoked due to violations.
But the two zones east of Highway 101, divided north and south by U.S. Highway 20, are a few fractions of a percent below their 1 percent caps. With the commission’s three-year-old moratorium on new licenses set to expire the last week of February, the sheriff’s office started taking waitlist applications Feb. 1 for 19 available licenses in zones 6 and 7.
The overwhelming majority of licenses in the county are in the five coastal zones. Although zones 6 and 7 comprise the vast timberlands that make up most of the county’s square footage, they also include plenty of developed ocean view, beach access and riverfront properties.
The county held its first lottery Friday, choosing 19 from among 44 owners on the waitlist. Some on the waitlist are in zones 1 through 5 and not eligible.
Lisa Combs, who administers the vacation rental licensing program for the sheriff’s office, said those chosen in the lottery now must go through the application process.
The 19 homes span the county from Neotsu to Yachats and range as far east as Siletz, Tidewater and the Salmon River area of Otis.
The limits apply only to unincorporated areas of Lincoln County outside cities, most of which have their own caps on licenses.
The background
Commissioners suspended issuing new rental licenses in March 2020 in order to stem unchecked growth as they devised new regulations to address occupancy, septic systems and possibly a license limit. During the three years the moratorium was in effect, the total number of licenses in unincorporated Lincoln County dropped from just over 600 to slightly more than 500. Most of that attrition was due to sale, voluntary surrender or a change in use.
Commissioners adopted new regulations in October 2021 under Ordinance 523, which was to include not-yet-determined caps on the number of licenses, as well as new occupancy limits, septic system requirements and an administrative hearing process for complaints. But a week later, a ballot measure won landslide support at the polls and superseded the county’s regulations.
But the ballot measure was struck down by the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals last August, and the county moved to again implement its ordinance. The sheriff’s office notified rental owners Oct. 31 that they had until May to enforce the new occupancy limit of two per bedroom plus two per house, and of a Dec. 31, 2023 deadline to submit a certified septic system report.
After two public hearings in January, commissioners decided on caps — 2 percent for the five regions west of Highway 101 and 1 percent for eastern zones.
It’s a drastic reduction from current levels in western zones. In zone 4, which includes vacation-rental dense Bayshore just north of Waldport with 137 current licenses, the new total allowed is 26. The next zone south, between Waldport and the Lane County line excluding the city of Yachats, has 88 current licenses and will be capped at seven.
There are 40 and 33 licenses respectively in zones 6 and 7, allowing for seven more licenses north of Highway 20 and 12 on the south side, anywhere east of Highway 101.
They’ll likely be taken soon, provided owners selected in the lottery last Friday can qualify and pay their license fee.
All of those properties are close to water — four are on Devils Lake outside Lincoln City; one is on the Siletz River near Siletz Bay; two are in the Beverly Beach area just north of Newport and one is just south of Newport’s city limits in South Beach; three are in Seal Rock; two are just south of Waldport; three are in Tidewater; three are near each other just north of Yachats; and one is on a large parcel on the edge of Toledo.
Challenges to the county’s caps as well the moratorium are pending in Lincoln County Circuit Court.