The County Commissioners will hold their (hopefully) final hearing addressing the substance of the new short term rental rules this Thursday, July 6, at 5:30 p.m. at the Port of Tillamook Bay offices. Since their previous hearing, a number of new issues have been addressed or clarified in a revised draft (pages 1-28). These include:
- No single licensee (including persons, corporations, trusts or partnerships) may hold more than one STR license
- In “rural” areas of the county outside of the defined unincorporated communities, no STR may be licensed if one already exists on a “contiguous” (neighboring) property
- No STR license will be renewed if the property has not been rented for at least 30 days during the year preceding the renewal
- Most (but not all) of the new rules will apply prospectively to both new and preexisting STRs starting on January 1, 2024.
The most recent Staff Memorandum (pages 55-75) also includes a list and maps of the 14 unincorporated communities in which STRs will be capped at current levels (plus 1%) and waiting lists will begin. These include Oceanside, Netarts and Cape Meares. Meanwhile, “Oregon Coast Hosts” continues its opposition to the new rules. Many written comments submitted by their supporters feature the earmarks of an organized “template” letter campaign, including boilerplate text and bullet points. They are also engaged in a $100,000 fundraising campaign to fund a lawsuit challenging the new rules. The County plans to finalize and adopt the new STR rules before the current “pause” in STR applications expires on August 31, 2023.
My experience on the STR committee for Tillamook County has been mixed. The process of finding common ground among committee members has been challenging, to say the least. Sarah Absher, Community Development Chair for the county has done a terrific job of allowing people to express their opinions about most every topic related to STR. We’ve spent hours on things like closet definitions and transferability. It’s clear that there are two forces at work here: desire for livability and financial benefit. As a short-term rental owner myself, I understand wanting to protect the owner’s ability to keep enough freedom to generate funds necessary for upkeep, etc. But we are also dealing with companies who manage large numbers of properties, homes that never have anyone living in them that are used solely as rentals and real estate folks who want to protect the ability for STRs to remain viable and part of the appeal of a house for sale, and that’s a bit trickier.
What I don’t see much of is a desire to find a middle ground on issues that arise. Sometimes we get to the middle ground and sometimes we never do. In my mind, people who live full time in the towns of Tillamook County need to have communities that feel like a neighborhood. They don’t appreciate new people constantly coming and going. I get that. And they are frustrated by the behaviors of some people who use STRs. And people who own or manage STR’s want as few limitations on their business as possible. What I’ve found most useful in recent meetings is there will be a majority position on issues as well as a minority position and this means we don’t all have to agree on any one thing. This allows us to move along when we get stuck on an issue and get more done, which we truly need to do.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
(Contact us to include events we missed!)
July 4 World Famous Oceanside Fourth of July Parade
Oceanside Neighborhood Association
10 a.m. – participants meet early at Sunset and Daisy
All are welcome to march or watch!
July 6 Continuation of County STR Rules Hearings
Port of Tillamook Bay offices – 5:30 p.m.
Tillamook County STR Webpage
July 24 Oceanside Action Partnership Workshop (3rd of 3)
Oceanside Community Hall – 2 to 6 p.m. (4 hours!)
www.oceansideactionpartnership.org
info@oceansideactionpartnership.org
or Bruce Jaeger – nguyenjaeger@gmail.com
(503) 317-6150
July 29 Oceanside Village Gathering Potluck
Oceanside Community Hall – 4 to 6 p.m.
Sponsored by Oceanside Neighborhood Assn,
Oceanside Community Club and
Oceanside Protection Society
And that’s the view from Oceanside!
www.oceansidernews.com
jerrykeene@oceansidernews.com