NEWPORT – The Lincoln County commission’s discussion Wednesday on vacation rental rules will focus entirely on the question of license caps in unincorporated areas.
As commissioners enter their fourth year of work on vacation rental regulations, they’re tackling the most controversial aspect — whether and how much to limit the number of licenses according to area.
Commissioners adopted their own vacation rental ordinance in October 2021, which was superseded by a successful ballot measure the next month. But the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals last August ruled the ballot measure invalid, and thus put the county’s ordinance back in play.
Commissioners have kept a moratorium on new vacation rental licenses in place as the ordinance was crafted and now is gradually implemented. Its new occupancy limits and septic requirements go into effect in June and next New Year’s Day, respectively. The ordinance also created seven geographic sub-areas within the county — two east of U.S. Highway 101 and five from north to sound between the highway and the beach.
But the ordinance did not establish the exact boundaries of those sections, nor did it establish the license caps for which they were created. In prior discussions, commissioners have indicated their preference for limits based on density — a maximum percentage of total addresses within a sub-area that can be licensed as vacation rentals.
Commission chair Kaety Jacobson said comments on all aspects of vacation rentals are welcome, but Wednesday’s discussion would be dedicated to the issue of license caps, and they enthusiastically encourage input on that subject.
The Wednesday meeting starts at 10 a.m. in the commissioners’ meeting room on the first floor of the Lincoln County Courthouse in Newport. The meeting will also be broadcast live on the county’s Youtube page.