Hood River City Council will hold a special meeting in early June to address two topics: appointing a new council member to replace Laurent Picard, and wording of licensing rules (aka Title 5) on short term rentals.
Picard, an 11-year council member, resigned Monday citing the “severe deadlock” over adopting STR regulations. He and councilor Becky Brun have had to recuse themselves — disqualified from participation — over STR regulations because of conflict of interest due to being STR landlords. Brun said earlier this week she has no plans to step down. With Brun and Picard unable to vote on STR matters, council is deadlocked at 3-2 on regulations including requiring STRs be the owner’s primary residence, prohibiting use of accessory dwelling units as STRs, and five-year grandfathering period for existing, non-compliant STRs.
City Manager Steve Wheeler said he will know Tuesday when the special meeting will take place; a date had been selected in Monday’s meeting to deal with Title 5, but later in the week Wheeler realized he and members of the council had a scheduling conflict. Council will continue discussing Title 17, on the zoning code and permitted STR uses, in its June 13, regularly scheduled, meeting.
Hood River News will provide an update in the June 1 edition.
The council voted unanimously Monday to adopt a six-month moratorium on new applications for STRs; this does not affect current rentals or the ones recently applied for. Several residents spoke against the moratorium and its emergency clause. “I don’t think this is needed,” said Libby Taylor, who owns a vacation rentals business. She carried a life preserver to the podium to make her point.
“This is not an emergency. This whole process is quite confusing to follow. You have had a year to come up with solutions and all of a sudden, a moratorium,” Taylor said.
Mayor Paul Blackburn cited the 3-2 deadlock and with the council unable to make decisions on STR regulations, the city needs to avoid a “rush to apply to get under the wire.”
In other council news from Monday, the council unanimously approved formation of a State Street Local Improvement Urban Renewal District (LID) fronting Oak Street between First and Front and Front between Oak and State Streets, as well as State between East Second and Sixth streets. Property owners, including Hood River News, County Library, Hood River County, and the City of Hood River, will be assessed a new tax based on linear feet fronting the streets in question, as a way to raise $255,000 to augment the $5.8 million in street, sidewalk and underground utility improvements done in 2014-15.
The library and two other property owners asked for “remonstrance,” which is forgiveness or reduction of any charges under the new LID, but these were not formally granted on Monday. The city is accepting a letter from one property owner detailing her remonstrance, and is also remeasuring each of the frontages, after Ben Sheppard of Sheppard’s pointed to a potential error on his and other properties.
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