By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
The Yachats City Council changed directions on two significant vacation rental regulation issues Thursday, backing off a major increase in fees and then launching a discussion to allow an unlimited number of short-term rentals in areas zoned for businesses and motels.
Decisions on re-licensing fees and several other regulations brings to a near close six months of discussion and controversy to retain a cap on rental licenses and make other changes to the city’s vacation rental regulations.
But it opened what Mayor John Moore hopes is a quick study and public hearing whether to allow an unlimited number of vacation rental licenses in areas zoned for commercial and motel use. Moore said if the council agrees to open those areas he would advocate lowering the city’s rental license cap from 125 to 100.
Currently, he said, there are seven vacation rentals in commercial zones and 18 in areas zoned R-4, which covers single family, duplexes, apartments and motels.
“I’m inclined to agree there should be no restrictions in commercial zones,” Moore said in bringing up the topic.
In Yachats, commercial zones include:
- Most land on both sides of U.S. Highway 101 north of the Yachats River until Seventh Street, when the east side of the highway becomes zoned for single-family dwellings;
- A triangle formed downtown by the east side of Highway 101, Prospect and Third streets;
- Most of the property between West Third and Fourth streets west of Highway 101;
- And, four smaller lots between Second and Third streets west of the C&K Market.
Areas zoned R-4 in Yachats include:
- North of the Yachats River, land where the Fireside, Overleaf Lodge, Overleaf Village and Adobe motel sit.
- South of the river, the Koho development, and large swaths of property south of Mitchell Lane between Yachats Ocean Road and Highway 101.
Councilor Leslie Vaaler initially said she was “strongly opposed” to unlimited rentals in those two zones, until Moore proposed dropping the license limit to 100. Councilor James Kerti was in favor of an immediate decision, but then like Vaaler, Moore and Councilor Jim Tooke said more information – and allowing the public to weigh in on that topic – would be helpful.
“We’re not fully prepared to open the doors on this,” Kerti said, advocating staff work to develop better maps of zones and housing and give better notice to property owners. “We’re limited in our ability to communicate all these changes to the public.”
The council agreed to develop more information and to schedule a public hearing on that single issue before the end of the year.
“We don’t have sufficient information to make a long-term decision today,” Moore said.
But in a major reversal, Moore admitted he was “a bit overzealous” when he proposed this summer to more than double yearly vacation rental license fees. He had pitched new fees ranging from $400 to $900 per license that would have raised an estimated $72,000 to help pay for code enforcement.
The council went along with that idea for several months. That changed in October when Kerti and Tooke balked at the increase, pointing out there was already $80,000 in the city budget for code enforcement. Vacations rental owners were also outspoken against it.
On Thursday Moore proposed keeping fees at their current rate, which should raise $33,000 in 2020 and “is appropriate for the amount of time for code enforcement spends on vacation rentals.”
Kerti said the city needed more data from a recently rejuvenated code enforcement program, and that the council can always look at fee increases next year.
“Vacation rentals are just a piece of the whole puzzle of the code enforcement program,” he said. “We still don’t know what our code enforcement needs are.”
Vaaler pushed for higher fees, but the rest of the council agreed to keep the current amount.
Afterwards, a group of vacation rental owners led by Jamie Michel of the Sweet Homes rental management company, praised the council’s two decisions as “much more reasonable.” Michel and a vacation rental organization called Yachats Alliance had been pushing back on many of the council’s proposed regulations, especially the license limit and not allowing license transfers to new owners.
Michel said changing the rules for vacation rentals in commercial zones is “huge.”
“Overall, it’s just a good practice,” she said, and would help the city defend itself if faced with a lawsuit by vacation rental owners.
In other business the council:
- Gave City Manager Shannon Beaucaire a $5,000 bonus for her work the past year, the second of her three-year contract. It followed an executive session last month during which they reviewed her work. On Thursday they expressed happiness with her performance. Thursday’s vote was 4-1, with Vaaler voting no. She said the vote wasn’t against Beaucaire’s performance but because “there’s lots of money going out and not enough money coming in.” Beaucaire’s salary is $96,912 a year.
- Agreed to have staff work with Yachats Brewing + Farmstore owner Nathan Bernard to explore how Yachats businesses can catch and store rainwater during the winter for use during the summer.
- Put off a discussion on what to do with two lots along the 804 Trail owned by Lincoln County that the city would like to use for work force housing.
- Amended its code regulating the heights of hedges and fences at intersections of streets, alleys and driveways.
- Clarified that it would wait until after a water rate study in 2020 to correct almost three years of mistakes in water billings involving its 10 largest customers and how to handle at least two years of double-billings ranging from 55 cents to $1.10 a month of more than 800 customers for capital improvements.