By Representative David Gomberg, House District 10
8/24/2026
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The number and density of vacation rental properties in residential neighborhoods have long been a point of contention here at the coast. Residents often complain of noise, trash, and traffic concerns as “mini-hotels” pop up in neighborhoods and new visitors appear each week destabilizing communities. Property owners respond that most rentals are well managed, clearly regulated, and that they should have the right and opportunity to use their property as they wish.
Over the past decade, the cities of Yachats, Newport, Depoe Bay and Lincoln City enacted limits and restrictions in their jurisdictions. For example, an online search reports over 1400 active short-term rental properties listed inside Lincoln City limits. AirB&B and Vrbo show 600-800 listings in Newport. There are approximately 100 to nearly 300 active short-term and vacation rental listings in Yachats, depending on the platform and data source tracked. Waldport, Siletz and Toledo have no limitations.
In 2016, the number of short-term rentals in unincorporated areas of Lincoln County reached more than 600. In February 2023, commissioners voted to create seven geographic areas and limit the number of licenses in each to a total of 181. Five of the areas are west of U.S. Highway 101 and two are east of it. There are currently 422 vacation rental licenses in unincorporated Lincoln County, down from 502 when the seven areas were approved. That number is supposed to drop through attrition since licenses cannot be transferred when properties change hands. There are also currently 138 property owners from the seven zones on a county waiting list seeking a license.
A group of 20 rental owners have spent the past four years challenging the county’s ordinance first in circuit court and then to the appeals court. This week, the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the county rules. A story in the Lincoln Chronicle details what the County calls “a significant victory.”
VIA Oregon, the advocacy group representing the short-term rental owners, said in a statement that it was disappointed in the appeals court ruling and “are carefully reviewing the opinion, including issues that may warrant a motion for reconsideration and potential review by the Oregon Supreme Court.”
| If you drive Highway 101 in Lincoln County as often as I do, you know this area is unstable and prone to landslides. I often refer to the stretch north of Newport informally as the “Beverly Beach Bumps.”
There are actually 25 landslides or rockfall areas on 101 between Lincoln City and Newport, and the largest and most active slides often get more formal names. There are four named slides on U.S. 101 within a few miles of Beverly Beach State Park.
- Johnson Creek Landslide: Extends along U.S. 101 from MP 133.05 to MP 133.27. This landslide consists of a large-scale deep-seated translational landslide moving.
- U.S. 101 MP133.56 Sunken Grade: This unnamed landslide is a broad sunken grade between MP 133.53 to MP 133.58 and has been active since the early 1970s.
- Carmel Knoll Landslide: This landslide along U.S. 101 from MP 135.25 to MP 135.41 consists of a large-scale deep-seated landslide.
- Moolack Creek Landslide: This landslide along U.S. 101 from MP 135.71 to MP 136.18 consists of a large-scale and complex landslide.
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| Drivers need to slow down in the “bumps” or risk going airborne. |
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| The ground under U.S. 101 around Beverly Beach State Park is particularly prone to movement around these four large, significant landslide areas. This area is at high risk for land sliding and sea-cliff collapse from coastal erosion. The area has ancient geologic faults, layers of weak marine sediment, high groundwater, and active ocean wave erosion.
Constant wave action, accelerated by storms, causes continual erosion under sea cliffs, leading to collapses and landslides. Research by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers has shown that the severity of storms increases that erosion. One vulnerable section of U.S. 101 from milepost 133.94 to 134.28 averages about six inches of loss per year, with some locations exceeding 1 foot per year.
Until September 2022, erosion control improvements along these areas has been restricted by Statewide Planning Goal 18, which limited the kinds of shoring done along certain areas of beachfront. Through a multi-year/multi-agency effort, this rule was revised to allow for agencies such as ODOT to look for goal exceptions and more permanent types of improvements to mitigate coastal erosion. |
| ODOT reports they have examined several erosion control measures and are trying to obtain funding for improvements along Highway 101.
There is no viable alternative route for U.S. 101. An inland route requires a long diversion away from the coast, major new structures through the inland terrain, cutting deeply into forest areas protected from development, reducing access to the Beverly Beach area to residents and travelers, and requiring a major investment of limited transportation funds.
Check out a photo gallery of the Moolack Beach Slide and an area of active landslide south of Otter Rock. |
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| You may have read that there will be an election in November. And while the airwaves and your mailbox will soon be filled with appeals from candidates for Governor, Congress, and County Commission, I often suggest that the further down your ballot you go, the less you will hear about candidates and the more effect they will have on your daily quality of life and well-being.
It is your local city council and not your legislator that make zoning decisions, fill potholes, license cable, Wi-Fi or sanitation, and fund critical improvements. Special districts manage our lands and water. The utility board determines what you pay for power, decide when safety requires it be turned off, or how long it takes to turn back on when interrupted. |
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| All this is to say that there are a number of opportunities to file for city council, mayor, district, or utility board offices for the November 3rd General Election. The filing deadline for new candidates is this Tuesday, August 25, 2026, by 5:00 pm. Many candidates who have filed are running unopposed at this time, with a few positions entirely open.
Local government is often emotionally demanding, time consuming, and thankless. But it makes a difference. Let’s pause and thank all those good people who are stepping up and into the arena.
As Theodore Roosevelt once famously said,
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man (or woman) who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
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| The new Oregon Coast Seafood Trail is a map of coastal restaurants, seafood markets, food carts, dockside retailers, and fisher-family businesses that serve Oregon landed seafood. That covers Dungeness crab, Pacific halibut, Oregon albacore, rockfish, lingcod, black cod, oysters, salmon, pink shrimp, clams, and even dulse. It filters by city, region, and accessibility, so you can go straight to your own area’s stops instead of the whole coast. |
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| From dock to plate, Oregon’s newest food trail puts the people behind the catch at the center of every meal. While much of the seafood consumed in Oregon comes from out of the country, the Oregon Coast Seafood Trail highlights where you can enjoy Oregon-landed seafood that directly supports local fisheries. The trail guides travelers to vetted fisher-family–run eateries, restaurants, seafood markets, food carts, and dockside retailers that prioritize local seafood. Each stop offers more than a meal—it offers a window into the working waterfronts that sustain coastal communities. |
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| Central to the trail is the idea of “Oregon-landed” seafood, meaning the catch was delivered to a port in Oregon. Oregon’s fisheries are among the most sustainably managed in the world, with species like pink shrimp, albacore tuna, groundfish, and Dungeness crab certified for responsible harvest. Additional local species—including Pacific halibut, salmon, oysters, clams, and sea vegetables—round out the diversity of Oregon’s coastal waters and ensure every meal reflects the region’s bounty.
Visitors are often surprised to learn how much seafood served on the Oregon Coast is from somewhere else—somewhere perhaps very, very far away. In fact, 90% of the seafood purchased here is sourced from outside of Oregon. Meanwhile, Oregon’s commercial fishing industry exports over 30% of its precious local catch to markets outside the United States.
• Oregon Sea Grant demonstrates how to buy fish directly from fishers at the dock in this video.
• Oregon Sea Grant shares information on how to buy fish at the docks.
• The Fleet Is In lists vessels that sell tuna off the docks in the summer.
• Oregon Taste is a resource for finding local seafood as well as other regional producers.
From Astoria to Brookings, Oregon Coast seafood is freshly caught and served in fish markets, farmers market stalls, and restaurants all along the coast. Because seafood seasons shift throughout the year, what’s freshest changes with the tides and the calendar. Some Oregon seafood is commercially harvested year-round, while other species are only available during certain seasons. Following the trail helps visitors discover what’s in season, learn how seafood moves from boat to plate, and better understand the value of Oregon-landed seafood.
To learn more about what seafood is harvested throughout the year, explore the Keep Local Seafood Local resource or ask your chef or grocer what’s fresh and local today. |
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| I am often asked about Oregon’s response to actions by the Federal Government. Under Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, the state has filed 74 lawsuits against Donald Trump’s administration. Recent wins include keeping costs down, safeguarding our elections, and protecting our environment.
We’ve had several big wins recently in our work challenging monopolies and corporate mergers that produce higher prices and fewer choices for Oregonians. In a huge win for Oregonians, and especially for our thriving film industry, Paramount & Warner Bros. agreed to pause their $110 billion mega-merger. We also won a court order against Nexstar (which owns KOIN in Portland) for “brazenly” violating the order pausing its merger with Tegna (which owns KGW). Learn more.
The Oregon DOJ is working to protect mail-in voting and Oregonians’ right to vote. Right now, we’re waiting on a procedural ruling from the Supreme Court that could impact vote-by-mail, but the important thing to know is that, no matter what they decide, we’ll continue the legal fight to protect Oregon’s elections. We’re working with state and local leaders to ensure we have safe and smooth elections this November and beyond. Learn more.
We’re fighting to defend environmental protections, because a big part of keeping communities safe is making sure Oregonians have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. When the Trump administration tries to roll back environmental protections, we work to stop them. We’ve opposed plans to weaken the Clean Air Act, delay vehicle emissions standards, and more. And we’ve won. We recently got a court ruling upholding strong environmental protections for soot—a huge win for kids with asthma, older adults with health issues, and all Oregonians. Learn more.
Through these lawsuits, we have safeguarded about $6,900,000,000 in federal funds coming into Oregon. These dollars fund things like food assistance, disaster recovery, public health grants, programs supporting victims of crime, and much more—programs impacting lives across our state. Learn more. |
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| The many faces of Dan Rayfield. Click on the “learn more” links above for short videos on each subject. |
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| Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is also leading a multi-state coalition of 25 states in a federal lawsuit filed at the U.S. Court of International Trade challenging the Trump administration’s 10% to 12.5% across-the-board import tariffs. The lawsuit asserts the White House unlawfully bypassed Congress by using forced-labor investigations as a pretext to impose broad trade taxes. Learn more. |
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| Fishing gear entanglement remains the largest threat to serious injury and mortality of whales off the West Coast.
At least 400 whales have been caught in fishing gear off the coasts of Washington, California, and Oregon between 2015 and 2025, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. Humpback whales are the most commonly entangled whale species because their feeding season coincides with crabbing season, and warming ocean waters push their feeding grounds closer to shore where commercial crab traps are posted. At least four humpback whales were entangled in 2025 in Oregon commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear—the highest number of humpback whales confirmed entangled in Oregon crab gear in any single year to date.
Since 2021, the state has taken steps to reduce whale entanglements, including requiring additional late season crabbing tags, limiting how many crabbing pots fishermen can use, and how deep they can place them. And now, I’m encouraged by new rules allowing our fleet to test ropeless crabbing gear already allowed in California.
Traditional commercial crabbing gear requires hundreds of traps to sit on the ocean floor, each attached to a vertical line connected to a buoy on the surface. Whales can easily get entangled and injured, often fatally, in those lines, as was the case with a humpback whale freed about 20 miles off the Oregon Coast in late July that wasn’t expected to survive because the entanglement left it unable to feed.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will soon authorize new “pop up” gear that stores the rope and buoy with the trap on the seafloor. Fishermen can set a timer or trigger a release mechanism that allows the line to uncoil and buoy to surface to retrieve the catch, ensuring whales and other creatures have a clear path most of the time. |
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| Traditional crabbing gear sits at a dock in Newport, the Dungeness Crab Capital of the World. Next spring, fishermen across Oregon can begin experimenting with pop-up gear, a ropeless alternative to crabbing that prevents whale entanglements. (Courtesy of Jaime Karnik/Oceana) |
| Pop-up gear is currently unlawful because all pot and trap gear must be marked at the surface with a buoy. The proposed rule would allow the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue some experimental fishing gear permits as soon as spring 2027, and the commission could consider wider authorization if the tests prove effective. While the pop-up gear is optional (and expensive), the commission would require fishermen in February to adopt a monitoring system that shares their vessel location via cellular networks with state fishery managers, so they can enforce closed areas and understand fleet locations.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has secured federal funding to help reimburse permit holders up to $800 for equipment. Read more in the Oregon Capitol Chronicle.
I’m planning legislation in 2027 to address derelict crab gear—the pots and ropes left abandoned in the water that are often the cause of year-round entanglements. |
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| I had good fun Friday as auctioneer for the Siletz Bay Music Festival benefit dinner and also presenting Matt and Amy White the 2026 “For the Love of Music” award. I hope the packed room enjoyed the evening as much as I did. |
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| The coming week includes a ribbon cutting at the PacWave energy testing facility, dinner celebrating ten years of OMIC, the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center, that I helped fund, dedicating a new sign at the Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce, the Siletz Car Show where I’ll present a trophy to my favorite car, and Nancy Mitchell’s retirement open house honoring her work for Lincoln County Food Share.
Call hair and makeup!! I’ll soon be filming a marketing video for OMI, the Oregon Metals Initiative that researches improvements for the metals industry in Oregon and also a documentary about my efforts to remove abandoned and derelict vessels dumped in our public waterways. I’ll be meeting with student leaders from Oregon State who for some reason are interested in the perspective of the fellow who was student body president there while their grandparents were undergraduates. I also have plans to meet with the Lincoln County Commission to share some thoughts and will chair the first meeting of the Blue Economy Task Force. More about those events in next week’s report.
Finally I’m carving out some personal time to get away quietly to celebrate and reflect on 40 amazing years of marriage to my wonderful wife Susan. |
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