Wednesday, November 21, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
TREATS: Gingerbread
came with first
English colonists
RENTALS: Councilors
vary in outlook on
properties
Continued from page 25
Continued from page 1
ailments.
According to Rhonda
Massingham Hart’s “Making
Gingerbread Houses,” the first
known recipe for gingerbread
came from Greece in 2400
BC. Chinese recipes were
developed during the 10th
century and by the late Middle
Ages, Europeans had their
own version of gingerbread.
The hard cookies, sometimes
gilded with gold leaf and
shaped like animals, kings and
queens, were a staple at medi-
eval fairs in England, France,
Holland and Germany.
Gingerbread arrived in
America with the English
colonists. The cookies were
sometimes used to sway
Virginia voters to favor one
candidate over another. The
first American cookbook,
“American Cookery” by
Amelia Simmons, has recipes
for three types of gingerbread,
including the soft variety
baked in loaves.
This softer version of
gingerbread was more com-
mon in America. George
Washington’s mother, Mary
Ball Washington, served her
recipe for gingerbread to the
Marquis de Lafayette when
he visited her Fredericksburg,
Vi r g i n i a h o m e . S i n c e
then it has been known as
Gingerbread Lafayette.
The confection was passed
down through generations of
Washingtons.
automatically triggered a sec-
ond reading of the ordinance
and another vote. There will
not be another public hearing
at the November 28 meeting.
Councilors each had
their own reasons for their
vote. Councilor Richard
Esterman voted no because
he is against STRs in resi-
dential zones of the city, stat-
ing they are businesses and
negatively impact neighbor-
hoods. Esterman had told
The Nugget earlier that input
from residents had changed
his mind on the issue. He
also thinks allowing more
STRs impacts the afford-
able housing market, which
could use more long-term
rentals.
Councilor Andrea Blum
expressed mixed feelings,
wanting to protect the liv-
ability of Sisters while at the
same time protecting the pri-
vate property rights of own-
ers to do as they wish with
their property. Blum voted
yes for the ordinance to guar-
antee some regulation.
Council President Nancy
Connolly reminded her fel-
low councilors that the sub-
ject of STRs has been on the
City radar for three-and-a-
half years, ever since she
joined the Council.
Connolly thinks that with
10 workshops and public
hearings held on the sub-
ject by both the Planning
Commission and City
Council, there has been
ample opportunity for pub-
lic input. She thinks the pro-
posed ordinance is a good
compromise, allowing prop-
erty owners to do some of
what they want with their
properties while protect-
ing the livability of Sisters.
Connolly voted in favor of
the ordinance.
Councilor David Asson,
whose term is up at the end
of the year, believes strongly
there should be no regulation
of STRs. Asson voted against
the ordinance.
Mayor Chuck Ryan, who
voted in favor of the ordi-
nance, believes there would
be lawsuits against the City
if the Council tried to totally
outlaw STRs, an idea some
citizens have given voice
to when raising concerns
about the impact of STRs on
neighborhoods.
Ryan pointed out that
Council and the Planning
Commission have been lob-
bied by both sides – current
owners of STRs and local
Realtors who favor more
STRs and no regulation,
and residents who object to
the presence and number of
STRs in their neighborhoods.
The proposed new ordi-
nance would completely
replace the existing text
on vacation rentals in
SDC Section 2.15.2700,
including the following
modifications:
1. Change of terminol-
ogy from Vacation Rentals to
Short-Term Rentals;
2. Adding a requirement
to obtain an STR operator
license;
3. Adding a requirement
to obtain an STR permit for
each unit;
4. Clarifying STR regula-
tions apply to all residential
units including when located
in a commercial district;
5. Removing noticing
of neighbors requirements
and ability to appeal to
the Planning Commission
(appeals possible to the
Oregon Land Use Board of
Appeals); and
6. Establishing concentra-
tion limits, prohibiting new
STRs from locating within
250 feet of an existing STR
(condominiums exempt from
the concentration limits).
In addition there are new
regulations regarding STR
permit transferability. STR
land-use permits and STR
operator licenses on new
STRs, established on or after
37
the effective date of the pro-
posed ordinance, are specific
to the owner of a property
and are not transferable when
properties are sold.
New owners of an exist-
ing vacation rental, estab-
lished prior to the effec-
tive date of the proposed
ordinance, must submit a
complete application for an
STR operator license within
60 days of property trans-
fer in order to maintain the
existing use. If an existing
owner does not apply within
60 days of the expiration of
their initial license, the use
will be abandoned. Current
permitted vacation rental
owners will have until June
30, 2019 to obtain their first
STR operator’s license.
There would also be new
regulations and requirements
in the Sisters Municipal
Code Chapter 5.50 in con-
junction with adoption of
Ordinance No. 489, regard-
ing STR operating licenses,
concentration limits, and
STR permit transferability.
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