GEARHART, Ore. (AP) - Officials in a coastal Oregon city plan to use a survey to help determine whether short-term vacation rentals should be regulated.
Gearhart City Manager Chad Sweet says the city has received more than 30 letters from people on each side of the debate, reported The Daily Astorian (https://bit.ly/1GOTaAI ).
More than 10,000 people come through Gearhart through the short-term rentals, according to Sweet, and they’ve been proliferating. Of the city’s 1,200 homes with water connections, more than 80 percent are short-term rentals.
While some residents profit from the business, others say they are annoyed by the vacation rentals and people who don’t participate in the community.
“It’s not the Gearhart we’ve known,” said Mayor Dianne Widdop. “People really care about their neighborhoods. It’s important to us.”
At an average daily rate between $300 and $350, the rental houses result in an estimated yearly revenue of $2.5 million, said Sweet. The city does not tax or regulate short-term rentals.
If Gearhart adopted a 7 percent tax on the vacation rentals, it could bring more than $176,000 per year into the city’s coffers.
The City Council plans to measure Gearhart residents’ opinions by sending surveys as an insert in water bills or as a separate post card. The city’s response could range from doing nothing to full restrictions, according to Sweet.
He will present a draft of the survey at the council’s November meeting.
“We don’t want to go off in the wrong direction,” said City Councilor Paulina Cockrum. “I’m totally open to the end point, but we need a data-gathering phase to lay out what this is.”
She said there will be lots of steps required to start regulating or taxing the rents: a work phase, a voter referendum, an implementation phase, monitoring and accountability.
When the survey results are tallied, said Sweet, the City Council “can make a decision — or not — at that point to move on.”
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Information from: The Daily Astorian, https://www.dailyastorian.com
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