Page 4
Street Roots • June 15-21,2018
Rural Housing
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BY EMILY Gl
S E N IO R S TAFF R
summers
C h a rlo tte B oxer, g o t a
neighbor. The neigh
B o x er know th a t a s tra n g e r
o n to Uie j3
S he left th e busy r e s ta u r a n t to m
s h o r t driv e to h e r h o m e, n e a r th e
to Yaquina Bay S ta te P ark . S h e so o n
d isco v ered a m an w as still high up on h e r
roof, w hile a w om an in a long s k irt w as
a tte m p tin g to scale h e r sto n e chim ney.
As it tu rn s out, th e m an and w om an
w e re th e te m p o ra ry o c c u p a n ts of two
d ifferen t v acatio n re n ta ls n e a r h e r h o u se .
T h ey had ig n o red h e r “no tre s p a s s in g ”
signs in o rd e r to re trie v e a kite.
T h is is ju s t o n e of m any in cid en ts, B oxer
said, th a t h a s e ro d e d th e quality of h e r
h o m e life sin ce h e r co astal n e ig h b o rh o o d -
an d h e r p ro p e rty - have b e co m e o v e rru n
w ith v acation-rental in h ab itan ts.
“T h ey block th e driveway, th e y block th e
s tre e t, th e y have p a rtie s u ntil late in th e
n ig h t,” sh e said. “It is hell living n e x t to
th e m .”
S h e h as sin ce in stalled a “F o rt K nox”-
style fen ce a ro u n d h e r p ro p erty , sh e said.
It w a sn ’t alw ays like this. Boxer, w ho
sp lits h e r tim e b e tw ee n N e w p o rt and
P o rtlan d , said th a t w h en sh e p u rc h a se d h e r
o c e a n fro n t se co n d h o m e 13 y e a rs ago,
th e r e w ere no sh o rt-te rm re n ta ls in its
im m e d ia te vicinity. Today, th r e e of th e four
h o u se s a d ja ce n t to h e r p ro p e rty se rv e as
revolving d o o rs for to u rists.
A nd it’s n o t as if B oxer is a d v erse to
to u rism - h e r livelihood d e p e n d s on it. At
67, sh e h as m u ch of h e r life savings
in v ested in h e r seafood re s ta u r a n t th a t
relies, in p a rt, on traveling d in ers.
B u t vacation re n ta ls, sh e said, are
cau sin g m o re h a rm th a n good du e to th e ir
in cre asin g n u m b e rs. S he is co n stan tly
losing em ployees b e c a u se th e y c an n o t find
anyw here to live. O ne of h e r cooks is living
in a sm all pull-trailer in an RV p ark
£
■
3 ® 8 S > g £
' • ■ ’ '
n
G E T T Y IM A G E S /IS T O C K
H o u s in g R ural O re g o n
b e c a u se sh e c a n n o t find h ousing.
T h e c o n tin u o u s em ployee tu rn o v e r and
s tre s s of ru n n in g a re s ta u r a n t th a t’s always
sh o rt-staffed have B oxer w o n d erin g
w h e th e r sh e w an ts to c o n tin u e doing
b u sin e ss a t th e beach.
S he is n o t alone in h e r fru stra tio n s.
C o m m u n ities up and dow n th e c o a st have
b e e n grap p lin g w ith how to reg u la te
vacatio n re n ta ls and m itig ate th e effects of
ever-increasing n u m b e r of v isito rs. I t’s a
double-edged sw ord: W hile O re g o n ’s
coastal eco n o m y re lie s largely on to u rism
dollars, th e sp re a d of sh o rt-te rm re n ta ls
h as c re a te d livability issu e s for m any
re s id e n ts and m ad e it n early im p o ssib le for
locals - m any of w hom w ork in th e
e sta b lish m e n ts to u ris ts p a tro n ize - to find
housing.
The surge
O reg o n ’s co astal tow ns have long played
h o st to sw ath s of v acatio n re n ta ls and
se co n d h o m es, b u t over th e p a s t decad e,
sh o rt-te rm re n ta ls have b eg u n o v ertak in g
m o st new c o n stru c tio n and affordable
h o m e s th a t year-round re s id e n ts once
occupied.
See OREGON COAST, page 5
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