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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 2017)
6A • November 10, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com Voters endorse Gearhart’s limits on vacation rentals Rental rules from Page 1A protect them from the negative im- pacts of rental property. Complaints that out-of-town management was unable to promptly reply to public safety concerns led to an increased call for regulation, including a provision requiring 24- hour owner contact information. sewer capacity inspections and cess- pool prohibitions. The measure would have elim- inated a requirement that a 24-hour representative be able to physically respond to the site within 30 min- utes and removed a limitation on the number of vacation rentals. A public vote would have been required for any future amendments to the vacation rental ordinance or any subsequent ordinance relating to vacation rentals. “Fear is a powerful force,” measure 4-188 supporter David Townsend said. “Gearhart has cho- sen its path … only time will tell.” Property rights Road to regulation The trail to Measure 4-188 began in 2013, when city leaders and res- idents sought to improve the stock of long-term rental housing amid concerns about how vacation rentals in residential zones can negatively affect the city’s atmosphere and liv- ability. At the time, the taxing ordinance for short-term rental properties pro- vided exemptions for the approxi- mately 50 single-family homes rent- ed out under the city’s guidelines. Repeal of that tax came nearly three years later, when short-term A timeline to Measure 4-188 It started in 1994… Gearhart comprehensive plan adopted with goal to preserve the city’s low density, semi-rural charac- ter. The plan states, “The city will rec- ognize the importance of the city’s neighborhoods and the need to protect them from negative impacts of the transient rental property and to discourage increased levels of traffi c and similar disruptions,” the plan states. COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP Gearhart Mayor Matt Brown reads election results to a room full of people at a watch party at McMenamins Gear- hart Hotel Tuesday night. renters were required to pay the city’s 7 percent lodging tax. By 2016, the nature of the internet and booking trends through companies like Vacasa and Airbnb added to scru- tiny of short-term rental dwellings. Residents in favor of regulating the dwellings cited Gearhart’s com- prehensive plan, written in 1994 and expressing the intent to recognize the importance of the city’s residen- tial neighborhoods and the need to In presenting Measure 4-188 to voters, opponents of regulation stressed property rights and said rule changes go “far beyond” com- mon-sense measures. “It’s been a long haul and it’s been worth it,” Planning Commis- sioner Terry Graff, an opponent of the repeal, said after election results were delivered. “You have to thank the worker bees who worked out of their kitchens to pull this off for the city of Gearhart.” Tuesday’s vote could lead to further discussion of the short-term rental ordinance, Lorain said. “I would like to see where we are in a year, evaluate where we are and see what we need to do to change it.” Brown opened the door to poten- tial changes. “I think we should look at this law every single year,” he said. “I think we should ask what are the ways that we can improve this law for everyone in the community.” September 2013 August 2015 November 2015 December 2015 May 2016 September 2016 Members of the Gearhart Planning Commission and City Council consider changes in the way short-term rental proper- ties are taxed and regulated. Residents fi ll the Gearhart Fire Hall at the city’s fi rst short-term rental workshop. City Council holds continua- tion of rental workshop. Nine Gearhart property owners cite what they say are “inaccuracies, double-counted data and spec- ulation” in the city’s data. City Council members agree to develop short-term rental regulations, rejecting a plea from some residents to conduct a citywide rental survey before a vote. Planning Commission recom- mends limiting short-term rental permits to property owners who have paid 2015 lodging taxes. After what the city planner called “30 meetings and eight draft reports,” the City Council passes Ordinance 901 unani- mously without discussion. October 2016 November 2016 April 2017 May 2017 July 2017 November 2017 Short-term rental owners fi le an appeal with the state to reject city rules. Mayoral candidates Bob Short- man and Matt Brown clash on approach to short-term rental rules. Brown, who supports the city’s ordinance, wins election. David Townsend, Joy Sigler, Brian Sigler and Sarah Nebeker fi le a challenge seeking a ballot initiative that would repeal and replace Ordinance 901. Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals upholds provisions of Ordinance 901. The bid to repeal and replace the regulations issued last fall gathered enough valid signatures to put the measure on the ballot. Voters reject Measure 4-188, with 77 percent opposed to repeal and replace of the rules to 23 percent in favor. Closure called ‘a huge slap in the face’ Food bank from Page 1A REBECCA HERREN/SEASIDE SIGNAL Author William B. Matson (right) is joined by Doug War Eagle (left) and Floyd Clown, Sr. (center), descendants of Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, to discuss and sign copies of their book “Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior’s Life & Legacy” at the Book Warehouse. Two descendants of Crazy Horse speak Crazy Horse from Page 1A read “did not make sense or come together well.” His second contact took him to South Dakota. How- ever, the meeting never took place because, as Matson said, “He stood me up.” With time on his hands, he drove to Bear Butte, a sacred mountain, to think of a different approach because the historical one wasn’t working. He began climbing and as he put it, “be- ing a white guy all the spiritu- ality happens at the top.” Half way up, Matson’s father spoke to him and said, “Open your heart,” which meant “I need- ed to know the spiritual side or I wouldn’t know the whole story.” Once Matson read the spir- itual aspect he’d missed from all those books, it all came to- gether, but to get the story, he needed to know the families and earn their trust. He fi rst met Doug War Ea- gle, one of the three adminis- trators of the Crazy Horse es- tate. “We were expecting you. [They] told us you were com- ing from the west,” said War Eagle. Matson said he didn’t know how to react, but went along with it. War Eagle told Matson the family would tell him their story, but fi rst Matson needed to join them in a sweat lodge to determine if his heart was good; and it was. From the 1930s to 2001, the descendants — or blood rela- tives — of Crazy Horse were in hiding. In 2001, through guidance from their ancestors, they were ready to share their story as told to them, clarify the inaccuracies, and put the myths and assumptions to rest. “Our ancestors told us it was now time for the truth, time to correct everything about our grandfather and our family,” stating how all the books ever written about Crazy Horse and his family “are all wrong,” Floyd Clown said. the food bank for 25 years, said attempts should have been made to fi x problems before the decision to remove Gann was made. “It was a huge slap in the face to all the hard working volunteers of the food bank,” Herrley said in a letter to The Daily Astorian. “I have no doubt Ms. Gann is correct when she says 90 percent of the staff will not be back. My heart breaks not only for the people who need help, but all the volunteers who can no longer help them. ’” Seaside’s Nadine Brien regretted that the board and Gann could not come to agreement. “I am sor- ry this happened, and wish something could have been worked out so that the com- munity would still bene- fi t from her management,” Brien said in a letter. “It’s a much more equita- ble way to ensure that every- body who walks through our doors gets a holiday meal,” he said. The board plans to elim- inate a clothing and house- hold goods aisle, which is considered outside of the mission of providing money or products that “go directly to someone’s dinner table.” The food bank’s prima- ry mission is to provide a three- to fi ve-day supply of emergency food to members of the community in need, he added. The food bank will reopen on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m. , a reduction from two hours of service four days a week. Volunteers and board members will staff the facility as needed, Gooch said. Community response Meanwhile, residents and supporters of the food bank offered a variety of respons- es to the management shift. “You owe our communi- ty an explanation,” Seaside resident and food bank do- nor Christina Buck said in an email to board members. “If there are problems at the food bank, why did it come to a point where it is so bad it forces a closure? … Your ac- tions do not just affect those in need, but also those who choose to give by volunteer- ing, donating and supporting this organization.” Volunteer and patron Jen- nifer Barrett said she was “madder than hell.” Board members don’t Call for civility R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL The South County Community Food Bank reopened this week. ‘YOU OWE OUR COMMUNITY AN EXPLANATION.… YOUR ACTIONS DO NOT JUST AFFECT THOSE IN NEED, BUT ALSO THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO GIVE BY VOLUNTEERING, DONATING AND SUPPORTING THIS ORGANIZATION.’ Food bank donor Christina Buck, in an email to board members have a fi nger on the “pulse of the poor,” she said. “I have enjoyed so much what Karla (Gann) has done,” Barrett said. “There are needy among us that are what we call the deserving poor. Maybe I am naïve, but I am one of the deserving poor and it’s been a tough road to hoe.” Seaside’s Sylvia Herrley, whose father Harry Miller volunteered as manager of Seaside Mayor Jay Barber weighed in with a call for ci- vility and trust for the board. “I know the people who are in leadership of the board of directors,” Barber said. “These are leaders in our community who have giv- en generously of their time and resources to bring the food bank to the place it is today. I have confi dence in them and fi rmly believe that their decisions over the past week were made with careful thought and deliberation.” Barber also asked the community to take a mea- sured response. “Let’s step back, take a deep breath and support our food bank as they continue to serve our region as they have for many years and many years to come,” Barber said. powered by music fi rst