Short-Term Rental Meeting: Falcon Cove, July 28

On July 28, 2020, Clatsop County’s Code Compliance staff held a virtual community meeting with property owners and residents of the Falcon Cove Beach area to begin a community conversation between residents and owners of short-term rental units.

More than 50 people were in attendance at the meeting. The majority of comments centered around quality of life issues and how short-term rental homes — essentially a commercial business in a residential neighborhood — affected the character of the community.

Areas of concern included visitor vehicles blocking private driveways and public rights-of way and potentially blocking access for emergency vehicles; visitors trespassing on private property; guests putting themselves and/or others at risk due to lack of knowledge about beach and fire safety; excessive noise; overflowing trash; a lack of communication between year-round residents, part-time residents, and absentee property owners; environmental concerns related to overburdened septic systems in short-term rental units; and a frustration over unsubstantiated code complaints and/or perceived lack of action by county code compliance staff.

Following the meeting, several attendees continued to communicate with each other. Some short-term rental owners offered to voluntarily scale back occupancy at their homes and agreed to put in place other measures to address the concerns that had been raised.

Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office staff, who also attended the July 28 meeting, will continue to respond to after-hours noise complaints. However, the goal is to minimize law enforcement involvement in what are essentially civil issues.

Code Compliance staff is proposing to continue hosting these community meetings on a quarterly basis to keep property owners and residents apprised of what code issues may have arisen during the past three months and how those were addressed.

Over the past two months, County staff have been meeting with representatives of two different companies that provide services to government agencies to assist with monitoring short-term rental units. While these companies offer a full spectrum of services from identifying unlicensed STRs to collecting lodging taxes, the critical component that is particularly needed relates to monitoring complaints that are received after hours and on weekends and holidays.

The majority of complaints received about short-term rental units occur on holidays, weekends, and after 5PM – all times when code compliance staff is not on shift. Obtaining the services of a third-party monitoring company would assist staff in verifying complaints and a create a transparent record that could then be used to initiate code compliance action. The two companies reviewed

Click here for the full summary of the meeting along with details about a Clatsop County Board of Commissioners work session related to Short-Term Rentals on September 1, 2020.