I agree that STRs play an important role, but I don’t think the “Facts” in the “Myth-busting about Short-Term Rentals (STRs) on the Oregon Coast” article by the Oregon Coast Visitor Association reflect reality especially in Tillamook County and specifically in Oceanside. Oceanside is second only to Pacific City, another unincorporated community, in the amount of Transient Lodging Tax (TLT) generated for Tillamook County so we have a lot of STRs.
Saying that STRs don’t contribute to driving up housing prices and housing shortages is not reality. STR owners buy high priced housing knowing they can write off maintenance costs unlike regular homeowners. STRs do decrease available housing for people who want to live and work here and shortages do drive up housing prices.
Saying that half of STRs are unsuitable for housing because they don’t have full kitchens or bathrooms sounds implausible and is certainly not reality in Oceanside. Besides, if you can rent something without a full kitchen or bath part-time or short-term, you can rent them full-time and long-term, and with the current rental desert, they would get rented.
Saying that STRs complaints are rare is also not reality. Tillamook County only recently established a process for tracking and following up on complaints and no one knows the numbers yet. In the past, STR neighbors were told that police would not respond to nuisance complaints like noise, illegal fireworks, trash, and parking so we were on our own.
Saying that STR and tourism dollars stay in the community is certainly not reality for Oceanside. Our few restaurants and businesses do benefit from tourism but in the more than a decade since TLT began, Oceanside has received very little benefit of the MILLIONS in TLT generated here. Supposedly 30% of TLT annually goes to roads, but only a small fraction of Oceanside’s 30% has gone to our deteriorating roads including roads with lots of STRs. Oceanside’s roads remain treacherous pothole-infested disasters. And of the 70% TLT for tourism, Oceanside has received an even smaller fraction. Just like was done in Pacific City, a large investment of Oceanside’s cumulative 70% TLT needs to be spent to study and implement solutions instead of saying sorry there is nothing than can be done to address the parking and traffic and other problems exacerbated by tourism
I understand that Tillamook County has limited ways to raise more money so increasing the TLT is one option, but I think Tillamook County has an obligation to treat the unincorporated communities generating the TLT and living with the side effects more fairly than has been done over the past decade. Just like STR owners, regular homeowners pay property taxes, water, sewer, and utility fees that support community services.
Mary Flock
Oceanside, OR
