Friday, June 17, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Linda Ely/The Astorian
The county development code only recognizes vacation rentals in Arch Cape.
Mary Altaff er/AP Photo
More than 75% of respondents said the pandemic had a negative eff ect on their mental health.
County commissioners advance Tired, worried, frustrated — county
residents share views on pandemic
vacation rental ordinance
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
The Clatsop County
Board of Commissioners last
week voted to advance an
ordinance that would allow
vacation rentals in unincor-
porated areas where many
rentals already operate.
The ordinance would add
rental units of 30 or fewer
days to the county’s devel-
opment code, making them a
permitted use in 16 zones —
from Knappa and Svensen
to Clatsop Plains to Cove
Beach. More than 170 vaca-
tion rentals operate in the
unincorporated portions of
the county, but only in Arch
Cape — a zone that has
allowed them for almost 20
years — does the develop-
ment code mention them.
Approving the change
would codify an existing
practice — to the dismay
of residents, particularly in
the Cove Beach neighbor-
hood, where vacation rent-
als compose roughly a third
of homes. Several residents
there had hoped county com-
missioners would ban vaca-
tion rentals from residential
zones.
The fi rst reading comes
weeks after commissioners
updated vacation rental oper-
ating standards meant to help
prevent troublesome behav-
ior, such as loud noise and lit-
tering, among visitors.
Commissioner
John
Toyooka said that enforce-
ment of those standards is
the overriding concern in his
exchanges with residents.
“There are compliance issues
we must attend to, and I think
as a board we have to look at
that very closely,” he said.
As the Oregon Coast has
marketed itself as an attrac-
tive destination, coastal econ-
omies have come to count on
tourist dollars. Some neigh-
borhoods have felt the pres-
sures of visitors more than
others. As vacation rentals
have multiplied on the North
Coast, some residents fear
that too many rentals will
strain the natural environ-
ment and make quiet beach
living impossible.
The county has held about
two dozen meetings, from
town halls to work sessions,
on the issue since late 2019.
In April, the county
extended a moratorium on
new vacation rentals. The
freeze is set to expire in late
August, but could end sooner
if the county settles the mat-
ter before then. A second
reading on the ordinance will
be held on June 22.
AS THE OREGON COAST HAS
MARKETED ITSELF AS AN
ATTRACTIVE DESTINATION,
COASTAL ECONOMIES HAVE COME
TO COUNT ON TOURIST DOLLARS.
SOME NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE
FELT THE PRESSURES OF VISITORS
MORE THAN OTHERS.
lic process forced us into,
‘You’re either for or against
short-term rentals.’ There is
no way to discuss the huge
diff erences between neigh-
bors renting and investment
companies.
“Yes, you chose the pro-
cess. Yes, you chose the
structure. You determined
the outcome,” she contin-
ued. “However, it’s not over.
That’s a promise.”
Nancy Chase, who has
owned a vacation rental in
Cove Beach for decades, long
before the advent of Airbnb
and other online platforms,
supported the ordinance, say-
ing it clarifi es the status of
vacation rentals in residential
zones, including those that
have historically had part-
time getaway homes.
“My view as an owner of
a residence is that, if I have
the right to rent my house for
30 days, why is it then illegal,
or could be illegal, if I rent it
for 29 days as a short-term
rental?” she said. “I think it’s
a residential property right.”
Commissioner
Pamela
Wev voted against holding a
fi rst reading. Echoing desires
expressed by some residents
and planning commissioners,
she said she wanted the board
to consider limiting the num-
ber of vacation rentals in cer-
tain areas.
“Almost everyone agrees
that there should be some
kind of a cap in order to
maintain the livability and
the residential integrity of the
zones,” she said.
Wev recently indicated
she favored a Planning Com-
mission
recommendation
— one no longer before the
board — that would have
allowed vacation rentals in
commercial and multifamily
residential zones, along with
Arch Cape, but prohibit them
in other residential zones.
That
recommendation
would have phased out vaca-
tion rentals in Cove Beach
and other neighborhoods as
permits expire. It would also
eventually have eliminated
about half a million dollars
in lodging taxes, according
to the county’s Department
of Assessment and Taxation.
just not the direction that we
should be going in when we
talk about zoning in rural
places in Clatsop County.”
Commissioner
Court-
ney Bangs does not view the
vacation rental ordinance
as bringing about sweeping
changes, but as preserving
the status quo, since scores
of vacation rentals already
populate the landscape.
“I want to support the
people that live within
my district and who have
reached out to me out of
fear that we would some-
how remove their livelihood
from them in this process,”
said Bangs, who represents
the eastern portion of the
county.
She and Commissioner
Lianne Thompson expressed
concerns about violating
owners’ property rights.
They both raised the spec-
ter of litigation if the county
banned vacation rentals.
Noting
the
relative
wealth of some people
who oppose vacation rent-
als in their neighborhoods,
Thompson said, “I’ve heard
a lot about people’s rights —
and they’re talking not only
about their rights for their
property, they’re talking
about their right to control
their neighbor’s property,”
Thompson said. “That’s
legal territory that we con-
sider very carefully.”
In a 3 to 1 decision,
Thompson, Bangs and
Toyooka voted to advance
the ordinance, while Wev
voted “no.” Mark Kujala,
the commission’s chairman,
was absent.
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
How do Clatsop
County residents feel
about the coronavirus
pandemic? Tired.
That was the most
common answer given
by participants in an
anonymous county Pub-
lic Health Department
survey. Of 421 people
who answered the ques-
tion, 182 — 43% — felt
that way.
The
second-most
common feeling, shared
by 38% of respondents,
was worry and concern.
Frustration came in third
at 30%.
The survey results
arrived as virus cases in
the county began to spike
after steadily climbing
since mid-April. Dozens
of new virus cases have
appeared over the last
week, according to the
county.
The health depart-
ment decided to conduct
a survey gauging pub-
lic attitudes toward the
virus, and the response
to it, when the coun-
ty’s booster rate failed
to track with the coun-
ty’s vaccination rate,
which at more than 74%
is among the highest in
Oregon.
Margo Lalich, the
county’s interim public
health director, said the
survey results confi rm
this trend.
The survey, which
opened in April and
ended May 30, was not
designed to be scien-
tifi c. The results are also
skewed by self-selection
bias: The people most
likely to participate are
also more likely to be
engaged in the issues
and have strong feelings
about them that may not
refl ect those of the larger
community.
But the survey results
did have information the
Nuanced conversations
Viviane Simon-Brown,
a Cove Beach resident, told
commissioners on Wednes-
day that, despite the lengthy
public process, the county
“has missed every opportu-
nity to achieve lasting, via-
ble, collaborative results
our communities could live
with.”
She said the county spent
too much time focusing on
the minutia of operating stan-
dards and avoided deeper
discussions about the impact
of vacation rentals on natural
resources and the character of
neighborhoods.
“Did we ever have the
opportunity for nuanced con-
versations about what is a
community? No. The pub-
Property rights
Wev said she wanted to
withdraw the ordinance. She
has called it a “one-size-fi ts-
all” approach.
“It’s not even a compro-
mise,” she told her fellow
commissioners. “I think it’s
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ON A QUESTION ABOUT THEIR
CHILDREN’S WELFARE, 78%
PERCENT OF PARENTS SAID THE
PANDEMIC HAS HURT THEIR
CHILDREN’S EDUCATION, AND
ALMOST 77% SAID IT HAS HURT
THEIR MENTAL HEALTH.
Public Health Department
can use, Lalich said.
One thing the department
learned: While respondents
overwhelmingly said they
had enough information on
vaccines, the county may
need to do a better job of
providing info on how to get
treatment for COVID-19.
A question asked respon-
dents about the impact of
the pandemic on their lives.
More than 75% said
the pandemic had a nega-
tive eff ect on their mental
health, and just over 51%
said it was bad for their
physical health. Thirty-four
percent said the pandemic
hurt their fi nancial situation,
and almost 38% said it had
a negative eff ect on their
family relationships. About
two-thirds of respondents
said the pandemic had no
eff ect on their employment.
“We haven’t had time to
fully process the impact of
the pandemic on our lives
because we’ve been in a
status of uncertainty, and
we’ve been coping,” Lalich
said.
The health department
was also curious about par-
ents’ decision about whether
to vaccinate their children
against COVID-19.
Among parents of chil-
dren 12 to 17 years old,
almost 64% said their child
had received at least one
vaccine dose, while almost
32% said they are “defi -
nitely not getting” their
child vaccinated.
Of the parents choosing
not to vaccinate their 12-
to 17-year-olds, 34% said
they don’t trust that the vac-
cines are safe, while 32%
said they don’t believe their
child’s age group is at risk.
Among parents of chil-
dren ages 5 to 11, more than
61% said their child already
had one or more jabs. The
group “defi nitely not get-
ting” their young children
vaccinated was almost
34%.
Of these parents, about
36% don’t trust in the vac-
cines’ safety, and more than
38% don’t believe the age
group is at risk.
For parents of children
under 5, almost 49% said
they’re “defi nitely not” get-
ting their child vaccinated.
On a question about
their children’s welfare,
78% percent of parents said
the pandemic has hurt their
children’s education, and
almost 77% said it has hurt
their mental health.
That question had only
92 respondents. “But I bet
if everyone completed the
survey, it probably wouldn’t
change that much,” Lalich
said.
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