By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
WALDPORT – The city believes it has a parking problem in residential neighborhoods.
Too many vehicles parked on some too-narrow streets. Vehicles spilling onto front lawns, often to the consternation of neighbors.
And, during City Council consideration Thursday — first on accessory dwelling units and then about garages — the issue of residential parking threaded its way through the discussion.
A 2019 Oregon law says any city over 2,500 population must allow accessory dwelling units in residential zones. The units are separate living quarters with a kitchen and bathroom either as a standalone building or by the conversion of a basement or other portion of an existing house.
The goal of the law is to increase housing choices and availability within cities.
Waldport’s population is expected to reach 2,500 next year and therefore fall under the state’s requirements for ADUs, as they are called.
The question before the council Thursday was whether to put the state’s requirements into Waldport’s municipal code now and make three related decisions — to allow them to be used as vacation rentals; to require the property owner to live in the house or the ADU; and, whether to require parking space for them.
“If you allow them to be used as short-term rentals, then you lose all the things we are trying to do,” said Planning Commission Chair Steve Barham.
The council voted 6-1 to adopt the state’s ADU wording, but prohibit from being used as vacation rentals and not require the owner to live there.
The council asked that consideration of a parking requirement for ADUs be kicked back to the Planning Commission, which was also tasked Thursday with looking closely at the city’s overall parking regulations. Barham said the commission would work to come back with parking recommendations by August.
“This is an issue that is perfect to send to the Planning Commission for a rigorous discussion and with a deadline so we’re not talking about this for three years,” said City Manager Dann Cutter.
Councilor Sue Woodruff voted against allowing ADUs, saying she was worried mostly about the potential to create more parking issues by not immediately requiring the homeowner to create parking for them.
Require garage replacements?
The council was also given a proposal from the Planning Commission and city staff to tackle parking issues from another direction.
All new single-family homes in Waldport are required to be built with a garage or carport. But homeowners are converting them to other uses “resulting in an increased number of vehicles parked in driveways and on-street,” according to a staff report.
The Planning Commission’s proposal would require the homeowner to build another garage or carport if they convert an existing garage to another use.
“There’s nothing here that says you have to maintain it as a garage,” Cutter said. “You just have to have a garage door. What you do behind that is your business.”
City planner Holly Hamilton said the city gets 1-3 permits a year from homeowners wanting to convert their garages.
Several councilors said they would not support the proposal before the Planning Commission addresses overall parking issues in the city.
“We need to state a vision of what we want this community to look like,” said Woodruff. “It’s something we have to grapple with.”
The council voted unanimously to put off a decision on garages until the Planning Commission finishes its overall parking recommendations by the summer.
“If we address the parking issue then it may relieve pressure on this issue,” Cutter told the council.
Yachats should follow suit and allow for accessory dwelling units for long term rentals only (not vacation rentals) as a way to reduce the extreme housing shortage for travel industry & hospitality industry workers and to boost income for retirees who live in Yachats.