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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 2015)
AR RT S IN SI D E TO D AY ND SP O LE W CA INTER Enterprise, Oregon www.wallowa.com Issue No. 34 December 9, 2015 ‘THIS PROPERTY WAS OUR PARENTS’ DREAM; THEY POURED THEIR HEART AND SOUL INTO IT’ DREAM REALIZED $1 Joseph addresses vacation rental loopholes Many argue short-term renters helping make town unaffordable By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Steve Tool/Chieftain Wallowa Land Trust Conservation Director Julia Lakes stands along the trust’s recently donated 1,500 feet of Wallowa Lake shoreline. The shoreline is just part of a nine-acre parcel donated to the trust by the Kimball family, who have owned the property for more than 50 years. Family donates 9 acres of Wallowa Lake shoreline property to land trust By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain W allowa Land Trust just took another step in protecting the moraines of Wallowa Lake from develop- ment with a recent donation of 9 acres of prime lakefront property that includes 1,500 feet of shoreline. Brothers Fred, Frank and Steve Kimball of Washington donated the property, and the land trust took possession of the land Nov. 23. The Kimball brothers inherited the property from their parents and didn’t want to see the land divided up or developed. “This property was our parents’ dream; they poured their heart and soul into it, and we’re proud to honor them by keeping it the way it is,” Frank Kimball said. Kathleen Ackley, executive direc- tor of the trust, lauded the family’s decision. See TRUST,3DJH$ The unregulated renting out of residentially-zoned Joseph homes to tourists is joining street repair as a hot-button topic at the Joseph City Council. During a Dec. 3 meeting held at the Joseph Library, about a dozen inter- HVWHGSDUWLHVWHVWL¿HGERWKIRU and against the practice. Mayor Dennis Sands opened discussion, saying it had been on the council’s ra- dar since spring. The council thought it had banned such rentals and turned the mat- ter over to its attorney Wyatt Baum, who discovered the only applicable ordinance was written before the advent of Internet residential home rental websites, such as Airbnb, which left exploitable loopholes in the ordinance. Sands said residential rent- als create a lack of affordable rentals for full-time residents. “I talked to a local property management person, and they said the market’s as tight as it’s ever been,” he said. Of the dozen or so people ZKR WHVWL¿HG RQO\ WKUHH VDLG they were in favor of continu- ing the practice, although one of them thought it should be regulated. Two of the three peo- ple owned registered vacation rental properties. Heather Tyreman, co-owner of the Bronze Antler Bed and Breakfast, said the problem was too prevalent to restrict entirely. “They’re already out there, so it’s a matter of controlling what’s there,” she said, adding that many homeowners can make more money from short- term rather than long-term rent- als and that an owner’s residen- tial presence (she used a duplex as an example) on the rental property should be taken into account. Jeff Whittaker of La Grande owns two Wallowa County residential properties. He oc- casionally resides at one of the properties, but also rents it out from time to time. See 5(17$/63DJH$ :ild¿ re solXtions ¿ ]]linJ oXt in &onJress By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Editor’s note 7KLV LV WKH ¿UVW LQ D VHULHV RI XSFRPLQJ DUWLFOHV DERXW IRUHVW PDQDJHPHQW DQG GHDOLQJ ZLWK ZLOG¿UHV LQWKH:HVW7RGD\ZHORRNDWWKHVWDWHRI ZLOG¿UH PDQDJHPHQW DQG WKUHH IHGHUDO ELOOVWKDWDWWHPSWWRDGGUHVVWKHVHLVVXHV EXWDUHPLUHGLQSROLWLFDOJULGORFN Western forests are desert dry and deadly, with nearly 9.8 million acres in WKH:HVWVFRUFKHGE\ZLOG¿UHVWKLV\HDU See FIRES,3DJH$ Steve Tool/Chieftain In spite of dangerously increasing forest fires, Congress is dragging its feet in implementing meaningful fire suppression and forest management legislation. Here, the Grizzly Bear Complex fire nearly razed the town of Troy on Aug. 20 of this year. 2')FRPPLWWHHWR WDFNOHZLOG¿UHLVVXHV By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain ,W¶VWLPHWRDQDO\]H¿UH¿JKWLQJVWUDWHJLHV $V DQRWKHU \HDU RI FDWDVWURSKLF ¿UHV wraps up, the Oregon Department of For- estry (ODF) has initiated a Fire Program Review Committee to address issues raised by multiple agencies. See ISSUES,3DJH$ Enterprise Winterfest Celebration Friday & Saturday, December 11-12 See full schedule of events on A11