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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2018)
2 Wednesday, December 5, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Take another look at room rental By Christine Funk Guest Columnist Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let- ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: I really appreciate the column written by Craig Rullman about today’s new tech- nology and how that is affecting the world (“The Fulfillment Machine,” The Bunkhouse Chronicle, The Nugget, November 28, page 8). He brought up a lot of things that I think are important for every American to be aware of. Technology has become so much more than just a convenient distraction. It has essen- tially become a way of life for most people, and almost everyone is affected by it in some way or another, even if they do their best to limit their use of it. One of the things I think it is important to understand is that artificial intelligence is only advancing from here on out and that many of the very physically repetitive jobs such as manufacturing and shipping fulfillment could disappear for humans very soon. That being said, as humans, it is our job to fight for our place in this world. I believe it is important for us to take a tactful approach rather than one of banishment toward all technology. This technology is a double-edged sword. It can be used to advance our society and to advance this world to a point of coexisting unity, peace, and self-sustainment for the entire planet. Or it can be used to control and completely destroy all freedom. The choice is literally ours as we are all the ones who support what “happens.” This technology is created by humans and supported by humans, which is why it cur- rently thrives. And the same goes for the cor- porations. They cannot thrive without us. I feel like it is our role and job to not allow this new technology to cross the boundaries of our own personal freedom and privacy. When Craig is See LETTERS on page 8 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Sunny Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy AM Clouds/PM Sun Rain/Snow 33/13 33/11 37/20 42/21 41/25 Monday Rain/Snow 41/25 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Graphic Design: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partners: Vicki Curlett & Patti Jo Beal Classifieds & Circulation: Lisa May Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Owner: J. Louis Mullen The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2018 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. Last night I went to the City Council meeting to express my concern over point No. 6 of the new short-term rental regula- tions and also about the distinction between a STR that is “an entire house rental without the primary resident present” and a STR that is “a room or a series of rooms in a house where the primary resident lives concurrently.” To me there is a big dif- ference if you are going to apply the clustering solu- tion of separation by 250 feet. I live in a neighbor- hood where several of my neighbors rent rooms or portion of their houses out to AirBnB clients, and since those current permits are going to be “grandfa- thered in” and not subject to the new regulations, as well as transferrable if the house is sold, potentially I will never be able to rent a room on AirBnB where I live. Again, I am not talk- ing about a house that is vacant unless there is a VRBO occupant. Moving into the future as housing costs/property taxes increase, the addition of people renting rooms or part of their houses out for nights and weekends is becoming more needed for some income levels and a desire for extra income for others. Think of an older person on a fixed income and they had it in their mind that they were going to rent a room and now they are unable to. Think about some parents that have kids going to college and their plan was to rent out the room to help with college tuition. There are many scenarios that would be helped by not lumping room rentals with house rentals. I feel the City is not separating out the differ- ence that is very impor- tant. This criteria hinders a person’s ability to earn this extra income if they want because the house 250 feet away from them had applied earlier and it now has the potential of block- ing the homeowner for years or even decades from attaining their goal. There are no limits set for others to prosper from this extra income and I don’t believe it is a fair regulation for these types of STRs. I asked the Council to reconsider just No. 6 and to look at being able to separate out room rentals and house rentals. AirBnB does it on their website, I believe that the City could also do this when giving out the permits and apply the 250 feet for full house rentals and not rooms. See how that goes for a year and then decide if room rental clusters are an issue. I hope the Council will think about these points as I feel that this part of the regulation of not distin- guishing between types of STRs needs extra consid- eration. Also, I believe the 250-foot rule was a last- minute addition and this was the first I had heard of it via The Nugget. Not only does this apply to homeowners in residential neighborhoods, it also applies to any resi- dential homes that are des- ignated commercial. If you own a home and someday want to rent a room on AirBNB or part of your house while you are still living there – 250 feet is close and it might be very difficult to get a permit as time moves for- ward. Home ownership for the middle- to low-income families gets harder and harder to come by without creative thinking. Write a letter or email to your Council members if you have thoughts on the 250- foot rule applying across the board of STRs and if there needs to be more thought on the types of STRs. Thanks for listening. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.
