September 16, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
Gearhart coalition responds to short-term rental initiative
O
pen letter to short-term rental
owners: On Wednesday eve-
ning, the Gearhart City Council
unanimously passed an ordinance regu-
lating vacation rental dwellings. This or-
dinance was a result of months of work
by the Planning Commission, several
public hearings that were so large they
were held in the irehouse and months
of work by the City Council with input
from the city manager, city planner and
city attorney. The ordinance as adopted
is fair to both residents who do not rent
their homes, and non-residents, who are
the majority of short-term landlords.
Now the short-term landlords say
they have drafted an initiative that
they claim they are going to put on
the ballot for a vote by Gearhart vot-
ers. They claim the initiative is a fair
compromise. A fair comparison of the
initiative to the ordinance adopted by
the City Council says otherwise.
Lodging taxes
First, the ordinance adopted by the
City Council makes it a condition of
obtaining a permit to rent your home
that you have paid your lodging taxes
to the city for the previous year. The
proposed short-term rental owner’s ini-
GUEST COLUMN
FRIENDS OF GEARHART
tiative does not make that a condition.
We are not sure why that would be a
problem for those proposing the initia-
tive, because we are sure they all have
paid their lodging taxes that are due.
Second, the ordinance adopted by
the City Council limits occupancy to
two people per bedroom. Children un-
der 2 years old are exempt. Septic sys-
tems for a home are designed to accom-
modate two people per bedroom.
The proposed STR owner’s initia-
tive limits occupancy to two people per
bedroom, plus two more in the house,
with a maximum limit of 18 people,
plus exempts people under 18 years
old. Therefore, a three-bedroom home
could accommodate eight adults and
eight children. Not a good prospect for
the septic system.
Third, the ordinance adopted by
the City Council requires that there be
one parking space within the property
boundary line for each bedroom. This
new STR-owner initiative has no park-
ing requirements. The proposers of the
initiative make the argument that those
homeowners who do not rent can park
as many cars as they want on their prop-
erty. But how often do homeowners
who do not rent have eight adults and
eight children occupying their home
seven days a week for three months
during any given summer?
Fourth, the ordinance adopted by
the City Council requires a septic tank
inspection approved by the Clatsop
County Health Department. The ordi-
nance further does not allow a rental
where there are cesspools. The pro-
posed initiative requires no such in-
spection.
Making contact
Fifth, the ordinance by the City
Council requires that the homeown-
er who is renting his home provide a
name and telephone number and a re-
sponse person. The ordinance further
requires that the person be available to
respond physically within 30 minutes,
and in fact physically respond within
30 minutes if requested. The new STR
owner-proposed initiative only requires
that a phone number be provided. That
phone number may be to a person in
“In the old days we would
say ‘See you in court,’ but
today we say, ‘We will see
you at the ballot box.’”
Friends of Gearhart
Portland, Seattle or California.
Sixth, the initiative by the City
Council does not allow a permit to be
transferred if the property is sold. The
proposed initiative does not have that
restriction.
Seventh, the ordinance adopted by
the City Council has general restric-
tions on the appearance of the property
to be rented. The STR-owner initiative
has no such restrictions.
Eighth, the ordinance adopted by
the City Council requires a safety and
ire inspection. The proposed initiative
has no such requirement.
Ninth, the initiative adopted by the
City Council has penalties for viola-
tions of the ordinance. If a homeowner
who rents his home is in violation of the
ordinance, his permit may be revoked.
The proposed STR-owner initiative
has no penalties for violation whatsoev-
er. That may be because the ordinance
has no restrictions that may be violated.
And then there is the poison pill
that has been written into the initia-
tive. The new STR-owner initiative
provides that if it is adopted, it may be
only amended in the future by the vot-
ers, not by the City Council.
There is one thing that we agree
with those who are proposing the initia-
tive: That the voters should have a say
in this matter. Therefore, if short-term
rental owners go forward with their ini-
tiative, we will be providing a counter
initiative that will be placed before the
same voters.
The counter initiative will be very
simple. It will state as follows: “A rental
of less than 30 days is a non-permitted
use in R-1 and R-2 zoned neighbor-
hoods. Any violation of this ordinance
shall result in a penalty of $500 per
day.” In the old days we would say
“See you in court,” but today we say,
“We will see you at the ballot box.
Jeanne Mark
Wilson Mark
Penny Sabol
Rick Sabol
On behalf of the
Friends of Gearhart
LETTERS
Letters from Page 4A
essential objective of persuading
voters to approve this very much
needed bond measure.
Tim Crawford
Arch Cape
Immigration truth
It is frustrating to read letters to
the editor that either demonstrate
a complete lack of factual knowl-
edge on the topic being discussed,
or are intentionally spreading
disinformation and lies. A case in
point is Jim Elvin’s letter, “Lax
laws” (The Daily Astorian, Aug.
19). It opens with, “Obama’s idea
of ignoring our immigration laws
and encouraging those who break
them ...” What?
Here is a reality check for
Mr. Elvin: The Obama admin-
istration has deported more peo-
ple than any previous admin-
istration, ever. It is true that in
2015 the number of deportations
dropped signiicantly. However,
they still outpaced all but one
year of the Bush administration,
where it was essentially a tie,
and remain on track to do the
same again in 2016.
The reduced deportations
were because of huge pressure
from both sides of the aisle. The
reasons were two-fold. Some
business leaders complained to
their representatives because
they were inding it tough to staff
their businesses, thanks to the
previous six years of aggressive
enforcement by Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE).
But what really prompted the
blowback was when ICE began
aggressively enforcing existing
employment laws and investi-
gating, ining and incarcerating
business people who knowing-
ly hire illegals. That, apparent-
ly, crossed the line. Why do so
many businesses hire illegals?
The answer is simple (if not
particularly moral): They can
pay them far less, and they don’t
have to worry about worker pro-
tections or workplace safety and
health regulations.
With aggressive enforce-
ment of the already existing
laws regarding hiring illegals,
two things will happen. First, the
illegal immigration problem will
signiicantly diminish. If there
aren’t any jobs, the vast majority
of illegals will not come here.
Second, wages will rise, work-
ers will be treated better and job
sites will be safer because legal
residents have recourse to the
law, while an illegal will remain
silent and suffer what they must
out of fear of deportation.
Plenty of businesses thrive
without hiring illegals. But they
complain it is hard to compete
against those who do. So they
blame the illegal immigrants,
who are not the problem. The
overwhelming majority of them
are just simple hard-working
people trying to make a better
life for themselves and their
families. In reality, the problem
is the scoflaw business owners
who knowingly hire illegals to
cut their costs.
The right wing noise ma-
chine has grown accustomed
to having its fearful following
accept any lie it tells, so the lies
keep getting bigger, and farther
from the truth. But when some-
one from 100 miles away tries
to spread these lies and disin-
formation in my neighborhood,
I’m going to speak up.
Bill Grafius
Gearhart
A good local election
It is shaping up to be a good
local election with two import-
ant local races. First is the elec-
tion for Ward 3 Seaside City
Council between two longtime
residents of the city: Tom Horn-
ing and Don Johnson. Both
have a long history of provid-
ing service to Seaside. Johnson
has been on the council for 16
years and wants to make it 20.
Horning is well-known both
inside and outside of Seaside as
a reputable individual who has
inally run out of patience with
the city’s lack of progress in
preparing for a Cascadia earth-
quake and tsunami. Seaside’s
website says the city’s tsunami
evacuation map (thousands are
spread around town) “directs
evacuees over bridges that have
been seismically retroitted.” As
Horning pointed out, the city
has not done these bridge ret-
roits. We could be politically
correct and say that this was just
an error by someone, but it was
probably a big ib.
The second major election
issue is a recycled Seaside
school bond vote. The total
bond amount is now $100 mil-
lion rather than $128 million
because the district decided it
is feasible to modify Seaside
Heights Elementary to survive
a Cascadia event. Gearhart El-
ementary is old and totally un-
safe and must be closed. The
district has determined that it is
feasible for Gearhart students to
be relocated to Seaside Heights
by completing a small expan-
sion. The State of Oregon has
pledged $4 million if the district
matches the $4 million. This is a
plan that everyone agrees with
and it can be funded. It ensures
elementary students a good safe
learning environment.
Broadway Middle School
is located adjacent to Broad-
way Park and the facilities of
the Sunset Recreation District.
This school is capable of being
retroitted to survive a Casca-
dia earthquake except for the
gymnasium, which must be
replaced. Students at this loca-
tion could easily reach higher
ground for tsunami evacuation
Fire and Rescue fundraiser is an annual tradition
The existing Seaside High
School must be closed and the
site converted to its highest and
best use, which is housing. The
portion of the old high school
site adjacent to Highway 101/
Roosevelt Drive should be used
for affordable housing. The por-
tion of the old high school site
adjacent to Holladay Drive is
ocean view property and would
support higher priced housing.
By elevating the housing over
its parking, the residences could
be designed to meet tsunami
safety criteria. Money from the
sale of the old high school site
would support replacing and
upgrading of school furnishings.
I believe Horning is correct
when he states that funding pri-
ority should be given to seismi-
cally retroitting Seaside bridg-
es for tsunami evacuation. In
my opinion, a more affordable
school-funding package should
be developed with continued
local pressure to obtain match-
ing funds from federal and state
governments.
John Dunzer
Seaside
BUSINESS
DIRECTORY
F LOORING
Randall Lee’s 0% FINANCING
AVAILABLE
Fireighters from Page 1A
fundraiser at the organiza-
tion’s facility Sept. 10. The
event includes communi-
ty outreach and relationship
building, as well as fundrais-
ing for tools and equipment
for the Seaside ire station,
apparatus and the training fa-
cility.
Holding an annual com-
munity fundraiser to support
the agency is a longstanding
tradition of the Seaside Fire
& Rescue Association, a non-
proit organization comprised
of volunteers that oversees so-
cial facets for the department,
according to Dugan. The event
has taken various forms over
the years, but it was turned
into an afternoon barbecue
four years ago to make it more
family friendly and inclusive.
During the event, volun-
teers grilled hamburgers and
hot dogs, sold T-shirts and
oversaw several activities for
the children in attendance,
many of whom wore bright
red plastic junior ireight-
er caps. The ire station was
opened, inviting guests to tour
the inside. Guests even got to
see the ireighters in action,
as they left to respond to a few
calls throughout the course of
the afternoon.
Fire trucks, rescue vehicles
and equipment were set up in
the parking lot between the
station and City Hall to help
community members learn
more about what the agency
does and give them an idea
of how their donation will be
used, Dugan said.
Seaside Fire and Rescue is
included in the city budget and
receives some funding from
that source. The association’s
if the city would seismically
upgrade the east Broadway
Bridge over Neawanna Creek.
The city should use money for
this retroit rather than their plan
to replace the Avenue U Bridge,
which has absolutely no value
in the event of tsunami evacu-
ation. With a new gym and sci-
ence laboratories added, this site
together with refurbished exist-
ing school buildings and exist-
ing athletic ields would provide
a needed addition to Broadway
Park. Siting the relocated high
school on Highway 101/Roo-
sevelt Drive would also elim-
inate future trafic safety prob-
lems on Spruce and Wahanna
streets that will be caused by
following the district’s plan. To-
tal cost for the conversion of the
Broadway Middle School to a
relocated Seaside High School
should be $10 million.
A new middle school should
be built adjacent to Seaside
Heights Elementary School.
A new middle school sized to
meet current school enrollment
should be $20 million dollars
since there is no land cost.
Seaside Fire & Rescue
volunteers man the
rale and T-shirt
booth at the orga-
nization’s annual
fundraiser, which
included a barbecue,
games and an inlat-
able bounce house.
KATHERINE LACAZE
fundraiser is used “to enhance
it,” and help the agency stay
current with life-saving skills,
training and equipment to
keep the community safe, Du-
gan said.
By providing quality train-
ing and equipment, the de-
partment can entice and retain
its most valuable asset: the
volunteers. Of the roughly 35
members on the squad, there
are three paid full-time staff
members and one part-time
employee. The rest of the
members donate their time and
service, which is imperative
for the department to answer
the quantity of calls it receives.
“A very valuable tool is to
keep the volunteers coming
back,” Dugan said.
Fire Chief Joey Daniels es-
timated the annual number of
calls the department responds
to has doubled during the past
15 years. For example, the de-
partment responded to about
517 total calls in 2001 com-
pared to 1,155 in 2015.
The department has to be
prepared to serve not only
Seaside’s approximately 6,500
permanent residents, but the
thousands of tourists who
come to town each year.
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