At a Wednesday, March 15 policy session, the Clackamas County Board of
County Commissioners (BCC) voted to move forward on a policy proposal
regarding regulation of Short Term Rentals (STRs). The only commissioner to
vote against moving forward was Chair Tootie Smith.

“This issue has been going on for many years,” said Commissioner Mark Shull,
one of the presenters of the proposal and the commissioner who visited the
Mountain community in January to attend a meeting of the Hoodland
Community Planning Organization that discussed regulating STRs. “It is a very
emotional topic. We’ve listened to all these constituents, considered all their
concerns and come up with this draft regulation.”

Commissioner Paul Savas, who worked on the proposal with Shull and also
presented it to the BCC, noted that the effort was done with three things in
mind: no impact to the county’s general fund, a reasonable entry for STR
operators and a way to address how STRs can be good neighbors in the
community.

“I think those are three essential points that are really, really important,”
Savas said.

The proposal would require STR owners and operators to register via an online
process that would include an affidavit covering a variety of topics, including

life-safety requirements, occupancy limits, contact information and
requirements such as off-street parking and garbage pickup. Owners and
operators would also have to acknowledge their responsibility to collect and
remit the Transient Lodging Tax (TLT), which is set at six percent in the
county and applies to hotels and other establishments for stays of up to 30
days.

In his comments, Savas noted that there are approximately 639 payees of
TLT within the county, with an estimate of 1,100 other operators who do not
pay.

The proposed program would create a new position with the county, funded
by revenue from the program, that would handle TLT and registration
enforcement, customer service, inter-department coordination and other
responsibilities.

Enforcement of the program would be complaint-driven, with no inspections
involved, and would work with property owners to become compliant. The
program would not require any further participation from the county code
enforcement or from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office beyond what they
do currently.

Program funding would be through a surcharge of eight percent of the TLT for
the property, and the county will explore one-time funding from the
Clackamas County Tourism Development Council, which is expected to be up
to $200,000, while also looking into if the county’s lottery revenue allotment
could be used as well.

The proposed regulations would begin with a three-year pilot program,
culminating in a report to the BCC. Savas noted the program is not expected
to be a “profit generator.”

Other board members expressed some concerns over the proposal, including
a need to clearly define what qualifies as an STR under the program, where
the startup funding will come from and the rights of property owners.
Language regarding potentially limiting the number of STRs after the
completion of the pilot program was removed from the document before its
approval.

Under the timeline included in the proposal document, policy advisors will
reconcile feedback from the BCC, develop an outreach process and work on
drafting code language. Public hearings and an adoption process are expected
to take place starting in April and May.

“STRs across the nation are becoming more and more popular,” Shull said.

“This draft ... is in the best interest of all our neighborhoods. We cannot
continue to have the unregulated situation we have now.”

For more information on the BCC, visit https://www.clackamas.us/bcc.