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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2020)
SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020 | 7A Dunes City “We’re going to work hard to get something out to you, and then we’ll do this again until we can get it right.” from 1A said. “We don’t know how to contact whoever the owner is. We have no way to interact if things go awry.” Even when they do have a phone number, it can go to an out of town 1-800 number with un- responsive personnel. “One of the things I’m not seeing is an owner or authorized represen- tative within 30 minutes for an in-person re- sponse time to a prob- lem,” another resident said. “I know one was in Seattle and unrespon- sive. There should be a representative within striking distance to re- solve the problem.” An initial draft ordi- nance prepared by the city required managers to mail notice to neigh- bors within 300 feet of a rental property, includ- ing contact informa- tion. However, some resi- dents felt that the range should be extended as multiple neighbors could be affected by noise. “Is there a way to have some sort of directory of short-term rentals, — Dunes City Mayor Robert Forsythe where the direct con- tact would be listed?” one resident asked. “And then that num- ber would be available to homeowners within Dunes City.” All agreed that a cen- tralized, public database of contact information for rental owners and management would be a major first step in enforcement. It would allow residents to take care of issues directly with managers, instead of having to call other agencies. It was agreed that the majority of managers were happy to work with neigh- bors, with many issues resolved in a single friendly phone call. “I screen my guests very carefully,” they said. “If guests don’t be- have, you give them a bad recommendation. And most guests don’t want that, so they’re ex- tremely careful.” However, not all man- agers are so cautious. Getting rid of 'Huh?' for over 20 years Call today to schedule an appointment. 541.991.4475 Scott C. Anderson, Au.D. Steven G. Anderson, Au.D. HEARING ASSOCIATES of Florence to respond to issues im- mediately, most likely preventing them before they happen. There was some con- cern that regulations to avoid problems with the more commercial prop- erties would hinder smaller owners. For ex- ample, Mills asked the council if a conditional use permit should be re- quired. “A short-term rental is a commercial oper- ation, which means it does require a condi- tional use permit,” she said. “Right now, that’s what our code says. If we are going to go that route, which is what Reedsport does, then it’s more complicated for the property owner and for the city.” The process does al- low for a stringent re- view of a rental proper- ty, including a hearing process. While it does ensure that the rental is in accordance with ordinances and laws, it is also time consuming for the small city staff and expensive for reti- nal owners. “The conditional use permit idea is a mini- mum of about $2,000 to start with,” Mills said, stating it could reach as high as $5,000. This would be on top of the other licensing fees that RS 2020 A look back at 130 years INSIDE EACH EDITION S IUSLAW N EWS THROUGH O CTOBER OF E EA CEL SN BR that goes to the idea that we don’t really know the character of people who come here on a tempo- rary basis. They could be violent or very nice people. We don’t want to approach them for the same reasons Jamie said. We don’t know if they are armed or vio- lent or what. They may be very nice, but we have no idea.” Instituting adequate law enforcement in Dunes City has been an issue for years, as For- sythe pointed out. “We have to look at that because being on the far west side of the county and not having a police force ourselves, it’s probably going to cause us issues in many areas of enforcement,” he said. “But we’ll take a look at that as well.” The discussion led to a request to make a dis- tinction between own- ers of rental properties. Many of the problems Dunes City has been facing has been from out-of-town homeown- ers who use properties like hotels. But other rental own- ers are just looking to supplement income; some are just renting out a guest house in the yard or a few rooms in a large house. These residents would be able T HE W EST ❖ T HE S IUSLAW N EWS ❖ F LORENCE T IMES ❖ T HE S IUSLAW O AR ❖ T HE S IUSLAW N EWS ❖ S IUSLAW N EWS AW NE S 1890 SL W SIU HearingAssociatesofFlorence.com FLORENCE • 1901 Hwy 101, Ste A Others simply ignore complaints. “We can serve fines that can act as a lien on the property,” Mills said. “That would be an incentive for the own- er. The agents would be required to get a Dunes City business license, and that license would be suspended if the agents do nothing about it. So those are some of the ideas that we’re throwing around.” Those solutions would be good for long- term issues, but it was unclear what could be done on immediate is- sues. Some issues, like fire- works, can be handled by Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue. But for oth- er criminal issues, en- forcement is limited. “The only thing I can do is fine and penal- ize,” Mills said, saying she had no power to issue criminal citations against people. “The last time I went out on a call to try and stop someone from doing something in the middle of the night, but my husband and I almost got beat up. So, we’re not doing that. I don’t get paid to do that. I am the code enforcement officer and I’ll do the best I can.” Another resident agreed, saying, “All of the council is thinking of requiring for rentals. “I want you to be aware that it’s not an in- expensive thing to do,” Mills said. One renter replied that fees that high would put him out of business. Instead, they called for relying on ideas like a published contact list to take care of concerns for now, along with oth- er regulations. One possibility is lim- iting the amount of peo- ple on a property. The city’s sample ordinance required an occupancy limit of 10, while oth- er examples limit the number of occupants per room. “I think another issue is not the actual number of overnight occupants, but the number of peo- ple on the property,” one resident suggested. “They have these big parties. With occupants, maybe you can consider a limit of a total number of people who can be on a property at any given time.” The meeting ended with Forsythe thanking those who attended, stating there will be sev- eral drafts presented to the community as the conversation continues. “We’ll treat this as a fluid document until we feel that we really got this down pat,” he said. “We’re going to work hard to get something out to you, and then we’ll do this again until we can get it right.” AT I N G 1 30 Y 1914 1915 “A reading room is one of the needs of Florence. Some place should be provided where strangers can go to spend a little time in reading when they happen to be in town, and where laboring men can spend their evenings quietly and pick up some information about current events or glean some knowledge on some subject in which they are interested. …Who will take up the matter and see what can be done?” — Editorial by W.H. Weatherson in The West, September 25, 1914 I n 1914, the Women’s Conservation League took up Weatherson’s chal- lenge and the first forerunner to today’s Siuslaw Library opened its doors on May 7, 1915. The next 100 years is the story of how that first library evolved into a Library District that today serves more than 18,000 residents of Oregon’s western Lane County, and how com- munity support and forward-thinking residents began a legacy that remains vital to this day. Florence’s first library opened in the Commercial Club, a forerunner of the Chamber of Commerce. Mrs. John Saf- ley was the first librarian. By the end of 1915, the library had re- ceived its first book donation from the state library — 42 volumes of a trav- eling collection. This generous dona- tion boosted the library’s inventory to nearly 150 items, a collection of books and free pamphlets. The pamphlets included helpful information such as: “Removal of garlic flavor from milk and cream,” “How to prevent typhoid fever,” and baby and childcare bro- chures. While the collection was small, the town wasn’t much larger; Florence was a city of just 315 residents. In the early years, the library moved a number of times. In addition to its ini- tial home in the Commercial Club the Florence Library served its residents from the Kyle Building, rooms in the old bank building, the Masonic Hall, and the old grade school (later the Cal- lison Building). The library was even moved once by wheelbarrow! Visit online at siuslawlibrary.info. “Thanks to the Siuslaw Women’s Conservation League and the assistance of the Commercial Club, Florence can now boast of a public library. While the number of books is not large, yet a beginning has been made and the people will have a better chance to obtain reading matter than they would otherwise.” — Editorial by W.H. Weatherson in The West, July 23, 1915 Take-out orders only Open from 10:30 am – 9 pm Old Fashioned Car Hop Service 1690 Hwy. 101, Florence 541-997-8124 The original A&W Drive-in opened in 1961 1916 1917 Mapleton Wins at Basketball — The West Vol. 26, No. 32 December 15, 1916 Station Keeper Arrives Here — The West, Vol. 27, No. 34 December 14, 1917 The Mapleton High School basket- ball team, accompanied by Prof. Hayes and quite a number of the pupils and friends, came to Florence Saturday for a game with the high school team here. The game was called at 8 in the eve- ning and it was fast and furious from start to finish. Mapleton made several goals at the beginning and kept ahead all through the game. Their players average con- siderably taller and heavier than the Florence team and this gave them quite an advantage over their opponents. The referees were Prof. Hayes and Leland Rackleff. Their decisions were satisfactory to both sides. ... The teams here have gone to con- siderable trouble and expense in rent- ing a hall and fitting it up, besides the time spent in practicing for the games. In many towns the school district furnishes a gymnasium where games of this kind can be held without ex- pense to the teams. Here, the student body has been bearing the expense, so it will be only fair for people to patron- ize the games and thus do their part. Captain Theodore Roberge, who has been appointed keeper of the Siuslaw Coast Guard Station, arrived here a few days ago from Cape Dis- appointment at the mouth of the Co- lumbia and has taken charge of the station here. Captain Roberge informs us that most of the equipment for the station is now at San Francisco ready to be shipped from the east and is now on the way here. He expects that a crew will be se- lected as soon as the equipment ar- rives which will be in a month or so. In Spring 1918, it was revealed that Captain Roberge selected five men from this vicinity, as well as three oth- ers. The following are the names of the station’s first crew: Fred Cannon, Al- fred Gentry, Lewis Circle Roy Lock- wood, Pat Deveney, Thomas Corrig- an, — Waters and — Pantell. U.S. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw River continues to this day. W AFFLES • S CRAMBLES • B ISCUITS • S OUPS S A L A D S • S A N DW I C H E S • A P P E T I Z E R S E U RO P E A N & A M E R I C A N F A R E 541-305-2041 1277 B AY S TREET , O LD T OWN F LORENCE WWW . MARISKITCHENFLORENCE . COM O PEN : W EEKDAYS 12 PM -8 PM • C LOSED T HURSDAYS S ATURDAY & S UNDAY OPEN 9 AM TO 8 PM