Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 2014)
31lie Page 4 ^tJortlanò (¡Observer September 24, 2014 A Nice Place to Visit which has the potential to be far more profitable for a landlord than als, and a faster, cheaper process for traditional long-term renting. And obtaining a permit. The permit to as the supply o f long-term rentals rent one or two rooms costs about decreases, rental rates are e x $180, and takes 1-2 weeks to pro pected rise. cess. In addition, there are more C ity C o m m is s io n e r S te v e requirements of homeowner land N ovick described the issue as lords in an attempt to address a “som ewhat nervous-m aking,” but num ber o f neighborhood com decided to “cautiously” vote to plaints about the issue. approve the practice w ith the During public testimony on July added amendments. 23, the City Council heard from resi The regulations require short dents upset about the negative ef term rental operators to pay the fects that have come from proper c ity ’s 11.5 percent transient lodg ties where an entire house is rented ing tax, as other hotels and m otels out, and the homeowner lives else are required to pay. where. This has led to noise prob Several organizations, includ lems, trash piling up, and a general ing Street R oots, the Portland negative impact on the neighbor African Am erican Leadership Fo hood character. rum , and Portland Com m unity To address these issues, the new R einvestm ent Initiatives, wanted permit applies only to one- and two- the city to dedicate proceeds from bedroom rentals. Renting out any the tax to im proving housing thing larger still requires a condi affordability. tional use permit, which costs $4,130 “Doing so will set an im portant and takes 8-10 weeks to process. In precedent by establishing a dedi addition, homeowners of all short cated, ongoing source o f city gen term rentals are now required to e ra ted fu nding fo r affo rd a b le reside at the property for at least 270 housing,” the organizations wrote days per year, preventing a com in a letter. plete absentee-landlord situation. But a proposal to transfer a A wider issue surrounding vaca portion o f the tax proceeds into tion ren tals is the im p act on the H ousing Investm ent Fund, Portland’s affordable housing mar which supports affordable hous ket. ing initiatives, failed to pass the “As ow ners turn the dim inish City Council. W hile m uch o f the ing stock o f affordable units into opposition focused on the b u short term rentals, the housing reaucratic problem s with “attach market becom es sm aller and more ing strings” to every bit o f tax hom ogeneous, and the diversity revenue, Novick brought up an that m ost people enjoy about liv alternative reason for opposing. ing or working in the inner city “If there is a study that shows dim inishes as w ell,” said Jordan this practice is significantly reduc Davis, hom eow nership specialist ing housing affordability, then I at Portland Com m unity R einvest think we might want to revisit it and ment Initiatives, and housing ad say, ‘no, we are going to re-ban vocate with the N ortheast C oali these short-term rentals, and assign tion of Neighborhoods. resources to enforcement,” ’ he said. “Once a certain dem ographic “And I don’t want our hands to be o f people with the privilege to tied by the fact that we think w e’ve travel start frequenting a specific already dealt with this by dedicat neighborhood it attracts the at ing the source of funding.” tention o f outside investm ent, Housing advocates outside of w hich sounds like an ideal situa City Hall, however, have suggested tion. However, most o f the incom that there is already plenty o f evi ing services or residents are not dence for the detrimental effects of intended for those already living short-term rentals, and it can be there but fo r those who have found nationwide. m oney to spend in boutiques or “In San Francisco, for example, trendy restaurants. The result is there are lawsuits being brought the neighborhood gentrifies and against landlords who have evicted begins displacing long term resi tenants in order to turn their units dents,” Davis said. in to sh o rt term re n ta ls. San While the zoning code amend Francisco’s housing market is shift ments passed unanimously, sev ing drastically to a market that only eral city commissioners expressed the uber-rich can afford in areas that concerns about its negative effects. were historically low income, push “It will dim inish the supply of ing people further from the inner affordable housing,” said Dan city much like what is happening in Saltzm an, current housing com Portland,” said Davis, pointing to a m issioner, who has already re similar situation in New Orleans as ferred to Portland’s “crisis o f af well. fordable rental housing.” The Bureau of Planning and Indeed, in the King N eighbor Sustainability will study the impact hood, which is located in the heart of short-term rentals on Portland’s o f P ortland’s black com m unity, supply o f affordable housing over short-term housing units are rent the next two years, and will report its ing for upwards o f $ 125 per night, findings in September 2016. c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3 100 Years of Peninsula Park: The Movie A 1921 photo shows the original pool at Peninsula Park in north Portland. Portland Parks and Recreation presents a free outdoor screening o f the youth-produced Peninsula Park documentary, Through the Years, Through Our Eyes: A Teen View o f Peninsula Park. The movie will be shown on Friday, Sept. 2 6 at 7 p.m. Family fun activities begin at 5 p.m. The event was rained out in June and if it rains again will be moved inside the Peninsula Park Community Center. Housing Bureau Reaches Out continued from page 3 of affordable housing at a series of public forums. Several community leaders and representatives of dif ferent organizations, including The Portland Observer, The Skanner, The Latino Network, and the Inter national Fellowship Family, have accepted invitations to attend the sessions in support of the commu nity involvement. Three upcom ing sessions are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Matt D ish m an C o m m u n ity C en ter; T hursday, Oct. 9 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at G resham City Hall; and Saturday, Oct. 11 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at New Song Community Church. If you have questions or would like to comment rather than attend a forum in person, you can email H o u sin g B u reau sta ff at nnestrategy @portl andoregon.gov or call them at 503-823-1190. CAREER EDUCATION "Straight from high school I chose Concorde. Concorde has been with me over 20 years. Because things are changing every so often in the medical field, I needed to update myself and what better school to come to. This was the best decision I ever made. Three days after I left Concorde I had 5 job offers." Olivia Massingill Two-Time Concorde Graduate BECOME THF NEXT CONCORDE GRADUATE —CALL TODAY! 888.375.1726 CONCORDE.EDU C oncorde ^ J areer LOCATED ACROSS THE STREET FROM BENSON HIG H SCHOOL, JUST A SHORT DISTANCE FROM THE M A X A N D TRIMET BUS STOP. 1425 NE Irving Street, Portland, OR 97232 c o lle g e ACCREDITED MEMBER, ACCSC. VA APPROVED FOR ELIGIBLE VETERANS. FIN ANC IA L A ID AVAILABLE TO THOSE W H O QUALIFY. Tot mote information about our graduation rates, the median debt ol students who completed the program, ond other important information, please visit our website at www concoide edu/disdosures.
