Vacation Rental Ban in Hood River?!

[CUSalin]

I don't think there are any plans to "ban" vacations rentals, but rather to put some governance around them. If you are truly interested, you can attend HR City Council meetings or meet The Mayor for pie .

It's a small town... a very nice small town, with lot's of visitors that offer opportunity for all types of commerce, including vacation rentals which, for many reasons probably needs to be managed better (neighborhood maintenance & integrity / availability of long term rentals / home affordability / tax compliance, and more).

I haven't heard anything about "banning" vacation rentals, but possibly limiting them.

CUSailin'

[boggsman1]

Mule...thanks for the info...I will definitely use the info. My HR riding consists of lapping Post Canyon , which I love...but I would like to venture out.

[jota]

The "problem" is the lack of affordable housing ("workforce housing" is the trendy term) - in large part because of the demand for second homes and vacation rentals. It's the Aspen problem to a lesser degree.

Teachers, nurses, restaurant workers, and many more locals can't afford to live in Hood River so they're looking further afield and commuting. All while swaths of houses are dark in the winter, and often much of the summer, because they are second homes or reserved for vacation rentals. And those houses could be filled not just with local employees but with people who participate in the community through volunteerism, tax-paying, and patronizing local businesses. Yes - potential city councilors even.

It's not an easy situation to remedy through rules and regulations - it's a much bigger reflection of economic forces. And - this is the key - you can't regulate, limit or prohibit second home ownership. So you're left with trying to address a large and complicated problem through regulations on vacation rentals (many of which are out-of-towners' second homes though).

And, yes, that's not a very effective solution to a much bigger problem. (They're not talking about banning vacation rentals, BTW.)

[CUSalin]

[beaglebuddy]

Here on Kauai in addition to the rules and regulations they have changed the property tax rates. Now for residential the top rate is of course vacation rentals which they have identified because they now require a permit (unless in a visitor designated area). Then homes that are second homes or long term rentals and the lowest rate is for homes designated as a person's primary residence. All this resulted in a pretty good tax cut for full time residents. I pay only $1700 a year, on a comparably priced home in Oregon I would pay $5-7K a year.
My neighborhood is composed of large beautiful two story homes (I'm the only run down single story) Most of the homes are vacation rentals or second homes, several neighbors stopped vacation renting their homes when they got the tax increase as it made it no longer profitable, now those homes just sit vacant most of they year until they come visit. It's a weird thing to go walking the dogs at night during the off season, just all dark empty houses.

[CUSalin]

Doesn't sound like a good solution for governing vacation rentals if it chases them all away.

[willysurf]

[pacspeed]

Willysurf...we'll see what you say when you own one of the properties in question. Traffic, noise, and crowding are a pain in everyone's ass, but the almighty dollar is still king.

[starfish]

Screw the mighty dollar. I did not move to hood river to get rich. Its about the quality of life. I would not mind if we limited the amount of tourist that come to town. I know it not possible but, I can dream.

[boggsman1]

Now I get it Starfish...you grew up in the Bay Area...windsurfing and MTB'ing your ass off, made a bunch of dough, then headed north to the Gorge for a quality of life adjustment. Now that you have settled in HR , you want to close it off to all the people who are doing exactly what YOU used to do. got it. Entitlement, defined.