Short-Term Rental Update

Submitted by Linda Eyerman

Clatsop County has been working on revisions to its Short-Term Rental (STR) ordinances for over a year now. The process had two goals:

One, to find a way to merge the Arch Cape STR ordinance (2004) and the Countywide STR ordinance (2018); and two, to address livability concerns in light of the increasing number of transient accommodations being operated in residential zones.

Along the way, the County — with the help of lawyers hired by Cove Beach residents — discovered that only Arch Cape was zoned for STRs, and that it has been illegally permitting STRs in the rest of the unincorporated County.

This led many Cove Beach residents to demand that the County stop issuing new STR permits and phase-out existing STR permits.

Arch Cape, for its part, was fearful of losing its unique “only one rental in any 7-night period” rule, a rule which discourages frequent turnover and has kept the number of complaints coming from Arch Cape relatively low. Unlimited rentals are allowed elsewhere in the County.

The County’s development staff held three Town Halls, and many public comments were submitted during this process.

Several proposals were floated for discussion, including adding a 7-night length of stay rule for Cove Beach. No consensus could be reached.

So as of February 16, it looks like the quest for a single ordinance has ended, and the County will leave the Arch Cape operating standards as they are, with the only change being a renumbering of the code provisions.

But for the rest of the unincorporated County, including Cove Beach, there will be changes to both zoning and operating standards. If passed, the County’s zoning proposal will make STRs a permitted use in all zones where single-family residences are located except farm/forest zones.

Operating standards will be revised to add some “good neighbor” regulations and to limit occupancy by septic capacity, but no limits on rental frequency.

Permits will be reduced from five years to two years and will not be transferable upon sale of a property.

This may not be the end of this process. The zoning changes will go before the Planning Commission on March 8 and are scheduled for public hearings before the Board of Commissioners on April 13 and April 27. The current moratorium on issuing STR permits is set to end on April 28.