A6
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022
Vacation rentals: Moratorium
set to expire on April 27
Continued from Page A1
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai take a selfi e with the Astoria
Bridge in the backdrop.
Roundtable: ‘We’re competing against
countries that are unregulated, unreported,
illegal and China is the worst of the lot’
Continued from Page A1
The ambassador empha-
sized that the Biden admin-
istration is committed to
addressing challenges posed
by foreign subsidies and prac-
tices that impact the environ-
ment and competition.
“We’ve been talking about
this (discussion) for sev-
eral months,” Tai, an attor-
ney who previously served as
the chief trade counsel to the
U.S. House Ways and Means
Committee, told The Astorian
after the roundtable. “I know
that Sen. Wyden has been a
leader on these fi sheries, sus-
tainability (and) trade issues
for a very long time. This was
a high priority for me.”
Wyden, an Oregon Dem-
ocrat who is the chairman
of the Senate Finance Com-
mittee, said he is working
on bipartisan legislation that
would increase transparency
and sustainability in the fi sh-
ing industry while lessen-
ing the impact of foreign
subsidies.
Merkley, an Oregon Dem-
ocrat, said, “The takeaway
(from the discussion) is that
we have an incredible fi shing
industry here in Oregon that’s
signifi cantly regulated and
has produced sustainability
as a model for the nation and
the world. But we’re compet-
ing against countries that are
unregulated, unreported, ille-
gal and China is the worst of
the lot.
“We need all the help we
can get through international
trade and the ambassador is
really the key member of the
executive branch driving that
conversation.”
The senators signaled their
appreciation to Tai for car-
ing about the topic and mak-
ing the trip out to the North
Coast.
“There are a lot of places
the ambassador could be
today other than the Oregon
Coast and we made this a spe-
cial priority,” Wyden said.
On Wednesday afternoon,
Tai, the senators and U.S.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a
Democrat who represents
the North Coast, appeared at
a roundtable and toured the
Intel semiconductor manu-
facturing facility in Hillsboro.
A 2018 county ordinance
addressed safety and livabil-
ity issues surrounding short-
term rentals. But the county
has not taken the step of
adding references to rentals
in development code zones
where many already operate.
Before the county com-
missioners on Wednes-
day were two zoning
recommendations.
County staff recom-
mended making short-term
rentals an allowable use in
16 zones: four commercial,
12 residential.
Last month, the Planning
Commission, in a divided
vote, scaled back the staff ’s
vision,
recommending
short-term rentals in only the
four commercial zones and
two multi family residen-
tial zones. This move would
prohibit vacation rentals in
the other residential zones
and lead to a phaseout of
scores of vacation rentals as
owners can’t get their per-
mits renewed. Of more than
180 vacation rentals operat-
ing in unincorporated areas ,
all but 77 would be elimi-
nated, staff said.
The Planning Commis-
sion’s
recommendation
would also lead to a nearly
$500,000 loss in lodging
taxes, county staff estimated.
In addition, the Planning
Commission recommended
that all vacation rentals oper-
ate under a conditional use.
This would involve a public
notice, a public hearing and
other measures that would
cost the county thousands
more. Staff recommended
that these costs be passed
onto rental applicants.
‘A common occurrence’
At the hearing Wednes-
day, county commissioners
heard views that have been
expressed in various forms
at numerous town halls and
meetings since late 2019.
Reba Owen, of Cove
Beach, held up photos of
recently occupied short-term
rental sites.
“The renters are gone,
but the garbage is not,”
Owen said. “This is a com-
mon occurrence that the res-
idents have to put up with.”
In her neighborhood,
zoned Coastal Residential,
vacation rentals compose
about a third of the housing.
Cove Beach residents have
pushed to remove short-term
rentals — which Owen and
her neighbors have called
“mini hotels” — from resi-
dential zones.
“The full-time residents
are so tired of the county
being unwilling to support
the residential zone at Cove
Beach … ,” Owen said.
Monica Wellington, a
Banks resident who with her
husband owns a vacation
rental in the Sunset Beach
area, said the Planning
Commission based its rec-
ommendations too heavily
on the concerns of the Cove
Beach contingent.
“We don’t believe that’s
a fair representation of the
entire community of short-
term rental owners,” Wel-
lington said.
COMMISSIONERS
WILL MEET AGAIN
TO DISCUSS THE
ISSUE THE DAY
BEFORE THE
MORATORIUM IS
SET TO EXPIRE.
She agreed that a neigh-
borhood where a third of
homes are vacation rentals
has too high a proportion,
and said she would support a
cap on the number of rentals
in a given zone. “But what
we don’t want to do is craft a
solution that doesn’t take all
stakeholders into account,
and without research,”
she said. “It needs to be an
objective decision.”
Wellington and other
rental owners believe neigh-
bor complaints should be
dealt with through operat-
ing standards. The county is
looking to revise standards
to address common com-
plaints — such as fi res, litter,
speed limits and quiet hours
— as well as permit trans-
fers and occupancy lim-
its. (Arch Cape has its own
operating standards, which
the county may move from
the development code to the
county code.)
A 2019 countywide
housing study found that the
county had adequate hous-
ing stock, but that much of
the supply is used for sec-
ond homes and short-term
rentals.
Commissioner Lianne
Thompson and Commis-
sioner John Toyooka say
they want more data on
how vacation rentals impact
the region’s housing — its
prices and availability —
before they vote.
Toyooka said vacation
rentals may play a role in
housing prices and hous-
ing scarcity, but he suspects
the impact is less than what
has been alleged. Housing
prices have also skyrocketed
due to rising material and
labor costs, he pointed out.
And many homes that func-
tion as short-term rentals, he
said, are high-value homes
— such as those with ocean-
front views — not homes
considered aff ordable.
‘It’s a diffi cult decision’
Commissioner Pamela
Wev said she is more con-
cerned about how rentals
aff ect the quality of life in
neighborhoods. “I think that
that’s what is truly important
here,” she said. She worries
about a “one-size-fi ts-all”
ordinance that treats Clat-
sop Plains the same as, say,
Brownsmead.
She said two weeks —
when a moratorium on new
vacation rental licenses is set
to expire — may not enough
time for her to decide how to
vote on the issue.
“This is an ordinance that
has too many questions, too
much fraught detail, for me
to ever consider passing it,”
she said, “and I think that
we have a responsibility as
a county commission to do a
lot more learning and strat-
egizing about what we do
with this ordinance in the
future.”
Thompson and Wev also
said they favor extending the
moratorium while county
staff works to gather more
information.
Commissioner Courtney
Bangs took a diff erent view.
She argued that, by add-
ing references to short-term
rentals in development code
zones where rentals already
exist, the county is address-
ing an oversight — reconcil-
ing the code with the coun-
ty’s practices.
“I don’t feel we can keep
indefi nitely extending out a
moratorium … It’s a diffi cult
decision, but I feel like we’re
at a point where it needs to
be made,” Bangs said.
The commissioners will
meet again to discuss the
issue on April 27, the day
before the moratorium is set
to expire.
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Two providers are interested in taking over the space at Sprouts Learning Center.
Child care: ‘We need immediate assistance’
Grille: Martins still own building
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
“We have two very good
proposals and we’re very
excited to have received both
of them,” Mayor Bruce Jones
said. “As I said, we would
have been excited to just
receive one because we do
not want our child care ser-
vices to go away. It was a
very painful decision by the
City Council. We delayed it
for as long as possible, but
ultimately we had to make a
decision to terminate these
services in their existing con-
fi guration in order that we can
provide other youth programs
that are also vitally needed.
“So we’re excited we have
opportunities here to move
forward on continuing with-
out a loss of service.”
Bumble Art Studio, which
off ers a preschool program
and summer camps, has
looked at ways to expand in
their existing space but found
it is not feasible.
Bumble serves about 33
children ages 3 to 6 from Sep-
tember through May.
The provider plans on tak-
ing over the Sprouts facil-
ity at the Astoria Recreation
Center and existing enroll-
ment and off ering preschool
and child care.
Bumble expects to serve
20 to 40 children at the
start, then gradually grow to
include infant care. When
their current lease expires
in August, Bumble plans to
move over the rest of their
services.
At that time, they expect
to raise rates. Bumble hopes
to partner with Preschool
Promise, a state funded pre-
school program that makes
services available to low-in-
come families.
Their goal is to provide
care for about 60 children,
from infants to 5-year-olds .
They also intend to off er art-
based programs some week-
ends and evenings during the
summer.
Astoria Head Start, a fed-
erally and state funded pre-
school program for low-in-
come families, operates at
Gray School in Astoria from
September through June and
provides care for about 40
children ages 3 to 5 .
Head Start is unable to
expand in its current space,
and has had diffi culty fi nding
other options in Astoria. Gray
School is also expected to
undergo renovations, which
could cause complications for
the program .
Head Start hopes to shift
operations to the city’s space
this summer and partner with
another provider, Lauren Gui-
endon Childcare, to off er tui-
tion-based care for children
from infants to 5-year-olds .
Guiendon intends to off er 46
slots and guarantee enroll-
ment for Sprouts families.
Both Bumble and Astoria
Head Start requested assis-
tance with building upgrades.
Bumble asked for the city
to off er the space rent free for
the fi rst fi ve years. Head Start
off ered about $8,000 a year
for rent during the fi rst fi ve
years.
Several leaders and
employees at Columbia
Memorial Hospital in Asto-
ria spoke in favor of Bum-
ble, which has discussed
dedicating slots for hospital
employees, many of which
have children enrolled at
Sprouts.
Ben Sherman, an ortho-
pedic surgeon at the hospital,
has a 2 -year-old son enrolled
at Sprouts. He said others in
his clinic also have children
enrolled at Sprouts, so main-
taining the service is a prior-
ity for the hospital.
“Both my wife and myself
work full time, and losing
child care is something that
makes us choose between
working and taking care of
our son,” Sherman said. “So
thank you guys, like a lot for
taking this up and making it
a priority.”
Ciara Van Velsor, a res-
ident with a 2 -year-old son
enrolled at Sprouts, said she
hopes the service will resume
this summer uninterrupted.
“The importance of child
care in our community rever-
berates throughout, and I’m
sure that’s very obvious to
all of you,” Van Velsor said.
“But I’m looking at, as a
mother, having to choose
between a job and child care.
And this is a real thing for us.
“And I also wanted to
make sure that all of you
... understand that it aff ects
more than just 21 families,”
she said. “So it’s a very large
impact in which we need
immediate assistance from
you all.”
antique, 19th century cherry
wood bar.
Scull has lived on the Ore-
gon Coast for two decades
and moved to Warrenton a
few years ago. He said the
Silver Salmon became a
favorite date night spot for
him and his wife.
Scull owns the West Linn
Saloon and the Blossom-
ing Lotus in n ortheast Port-
land. In 2020, he purchased
Sam’s Seaside Cafe with his
business partner, Frederick
Slentz.
“Being a restaurateur, and
fi nding out that Jeff and Lau-
rie were interested in retir-
ing, it didn’t take me too
long to come down and see
if I could visit with them.
And we started talking, and
got to know each other a lit-
tle bit better, and we thought
it would be the perfect fi t,”
Scull said.
Scull offi cially took over
the Silver Salmon on April
1, and said that six months
from now people can expect
to walk into the same restau-
rant they have enjoyed for
years. He said the Martins
still own the building.
“They’re still a part. They
still own their home in the
area. Their grandkids are still
playing sports. T hey’re still a
big part of the area. They’ve
just given me the opportu-
nity to come in and help out
with Silver Salmon,” he said.
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