The city’s pointed initiative on short term rentals (STRs) starts the formal adoption process next week.
“It’s happening,” Planning Director Cindy Walbridge told City Council Monday, as the elected body accepted a document containing Walbridge’s staff report on proposed STR governance, and a letter from Nate DeVol, chairman of the Planning Commission, which holds its first hearing on the issue on Feb. 29.
“We’re excited and a little nervous,” Walbridge said, as staff has spent months preparing for the pending public review of changes to Title 17 of the Municipal Code (STRs) on Feb. 29 and March 21, and to Title 5 (transient room tax), which goes to hearing starting in April.
The Planning Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
“The Planning Commission will be defining a new use (STRs) that does not currently exist in our zoning code,” DeVol said in his letter. “We will be determining where and under what conditions this new use will occur.” A proposed cap of 143 STRs and a requirement that they be spaced at least 250 feet apart are tenets of the proposal.
In the same meeting, council heard some dire testimony from builder Mike Kitts over the lack of buildable land in Hood River and environs, and the city’s recent decision to disallow extension of water and sewer to housing developments located outside city limits. The city is reviewing the policy and how to define and enable contiguous development, and in active discussions with at least one developer, Barrel Springs on Belmont Avenue, to find a solution. However, for now developers are unable to pursue “at least a half-dozen” proposed projects, according to Kitts, who with Doug Beveridge has for decades specialized in housing projects accessible to a variety of income levels.
“Without any buildable lots at this time, or the near future, you are approaching a crisis situation here in Hood River,” Kitts said. “Not only will we see a significant increase in home costs in the near future but it will spiral out of control.”
In other business:
• The city adopted a resolution in favor of comprehensive background checks for firearm purchases, by a 4-1 vote. In favor were council members Peter Cornelison, Becky Brun and Mark Zanmiller, along with Mayor Paul Blackburn, who proposed adopting the version of a resolution adopted by other cities. Councilor Susan Johnson voted against, saying she wanted more information but also had a concern about potential privacy violations for people with mental illness, under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Judy Nelson, Venka Payne and Mike Rockwell urged the council to go on record opposing the U.S. Forest Service’s proposed Polallie Fuels Reduction project on the north slope of Mount Hood.
“The Forest Service is treating that area like a tree farm, but it is more than a tree farm. It’s the life blood of the community,” Nelson said. She also expressed her concerns about old growth being cut and threats to spotted owl habitat, the project’s proximity to recreation trails, and the potential impact on the proposed Cooper Spur land swap between USFS and the Meadows Corp.
• Council continued a discussion, started at its Feb. 8 meeting, on the idea of changing the city’s open container law, which allows packaged alcohol to be carried and consumed outside. One idea was to prohibit open containers after 9 or 10 p.m., since anecdotally the instances of abuse have happened late at night.
The issue was brought up after downtown merchants complained about litter and broken bottles, as well as behavioral issues such as vomiting and urination. However, after about a 10-minute discussion, the council decided to make no change, as it might impinge on picnickers’ right to responsibly consume alcohol in parks or other public places.
“It would be one thing if there was evidence to show it would make a difference,” said council member Becky Brun.
•
Testimony on the upcoming STR changes will be taken Feb. 29, and written testimony may be submitted by 5 p.m. on Monday. Written testimony will also be accepted for the commission’s second hearing March 21.
According to DeVol, the City Council can accept the Planning Commission recommendations and approve the code language, or change the code language themselves.
“The city has a very tight land market and development n new short-term rentals will consume land for long-term housing,” Walbridge said in her staff report.
“It is this dynamic that is the underlying reason the city is considering future regulations on short-term rentals now. This growth will eventually ‘crowd out’ permanent long-term housing stock (owned or rented). A related concern is the overall appropriateness of expanding the commercial aspect of STRs in residential zones.”
The city’s code change proposals do not affect STRs in commercial zones, and will have no impact on bed-and-breakfast operations.
“Once predominant issue in the city’s residential zones are the impacts of short term rental to housing supply and livability; short-term rentals now, but more importantly the trajectory of short-term rentals in this 20-year planning period,” Walbridge stated in her staff report.
Walbridge reiterated the city’s limitations in expanding the Urban Growth Boundary to create more buildable land, and the fact that the city is surrounded by the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and by farmland.
“Expansion in either of these areas will be extremely complicated and difficult, and will take several years.”
State law discourages expansion onto farmlands and requires that all other alternatives, such as increasing development capacity within the existing UGB or expansion onto non-farmlands be exhausted or found infeasible before expansion onto farmlands is permitted.”
Monday’s meeting brought a cross-section of development issues, as Kitts made a case for a “compromise” on allowing developers to pursue their housing projects. Referring to a slow-down in housing construction, Kitts said:
“I don’t have to tell you what this means for young people trying to get a foothold in this town. I think a fair compromise would be to allow the half-dozen or so projects that are in the pipeline to proceed. This will be a pressure relief valve to allow us to find some other options.
“Also, since city has adopted the direction that they are no longer interested in a policy of allowing infrastructure to be extended without annexation … one option would be to allow developers to pay the full cost, even though it not yet annexed. I imagine the city would want it up front, perhaps in form of a bond. I understand it is an issue of getting infrastructure paid for.”
Kitts said he has seen appraisals for some of his recently-built homes go up $15,000 to $20,000 overnight, while city limits contain only a fraction of the active housing listings – 12 currently compared to 120 in summer 2015 – and even fewer listed rental units. Kitts said home prices and rentals are both going up, a large number of construction employees will soon be affected by the lack of development, and new businesses who want to move here will hesitate due to lack of available housing for their employees.
“As a result this community will price itself out of housing to everyone other than the wealthy,” Kitts said.
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