The Cannon Beach City Council is looking to move ahead with a cap on vacation rentals amid concerns about impacts on neighborhoods and on housing options for people who live and work in the city.
At a meeting Tuesday, the city councilors opted to continue a hearing on a proposed ordinance that would cap the total number of short term rental licenses in the city at 165, amend density restrictions to limit how many short-term rentals can cluster in a single area and establish exclusion zones east of Highway 101.
A majority of city councilors voiced their support for this version of the ordinance. If they move ahead with the ordinance at an Oct.6 meeting, they would reverse an earlier recommendation by the Cannon Beach Planning Commission to reject a cap on short-term rentals.
Currently, Cannon Beach has 195 short-term rental permits total. Most of those are 14-day permits. The city also has 40 lifetime short-term rentals that existed before Cannon Beach stopped issuing this type of license. Those permits will eventually “age out” and go away, but that could be many years from now.
According to regional housing occupancy data presented by city staff earlier this year, seasonal occupancy accounts for half of the occupancy in Cannon Beach. Around 10% is short-term rentals. Owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing accounts for only about 37% of the city’s occupancy.
Serious discussions about a cap on short-term rentals began in early 2024.
Some of the more vocal proponents come from an area on the east side of Highway 101 at the south end of Cannon Beach, a neighborhood called Haystack Heights. According to the city, there are six vacation rentals in the neighborhood, which otherwise is a mix of year-round and seasonal residents.
Other concerns have come from people who work in Cannon Beach, but who have struggled to stay consistently housed in the city.
Lynn Halldorson was among the many people who testified in support of a cap on Tuesday. She told city councilors she has moved seven times in the 15 years she’s lived in Cannon Beach. Sometimes those moves were of her own choosing; other times she was priced out.
One time, she said, she lost her housing when the owners of the home decided to turn it into a vacation rental.
“The reality is if I were to lose my housing today, there would be virtually no housing for me to move into,” she said.
Lack of long-term housing is not an abstract issue for her or for many of her coworkers and friends, Halldorson told councilors. It also impacts businesses trying to hire employees.
She and others who testified acknowledged that tourism was a key component of Cannon Beach’s economy.
“My livelihood depends on visitors, too,” Halldorson said. “But tourism also depends on the people who make this town function … People flock to Cannon Beach because it is a vibrant, beautiful community of people, artists, shops and restaurants, not just a collection of vacation homes.”
Lolly Allsop, another supporter of a cap, said it was unsustainable not to put a cap on short term rentals.
“It’s pretty horrifying that the people who spend 90 percent of their time here helping the people that visit us, aren’t allowed to be here or vote here,” she said.
A few people spoke in opposition to the proposed cap.
One was Planning Commissioner Steve Weight who is also running for an open at-large position on the city council in November’s general election.
He voted against the cap when it was in front of the Planning Commission. But some in the community felt he should have disclosed his involvement with the vacation rental industry and what they believed were his potential financial interests in not limiting such rentals in Cannon Beach.
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission confirmed with KMUN that it had received a complaint about Weight, but could not provide any additional details.
Weight pushed back against the community claims in an August 11 letter to the Cannon Beach City Council, saying he voted against the cap because he doesn’t see it as the right tool to protect long-term rentals in the community.
Responding to the ethical concerns, Weight wrote that he has no business interests in Cannon Beach and does not own or operate any rental properties. He said does not rely on tourist activity or business in Cannon Beach for his livelihood and that he is not compensated for helping friends or neighbors with their second homes.
The resume Weight submitted when he filed to run for City Council lists his current employment as managing 68 properties for Vacasa Corporations, a major vacation rental company. But in his Aug.11 letter to the council, he said he resigned near the end of May.
At the public hearing Tuesday, Weight reiterated his argument that a cap won’t go far enough and won’t protect neighborhoods. He advocated for a discussion about large exclusion zones that would encompass multiple city neighborhoods.
On Tuesday, several others warned about unintended consequences of a cap. They said a cap could drive families who have been in Cannon Beach for generations out of the area if they don’t have flexibility with how they can use their homes in the future.
Sandie Dotson, general manager for Beachcomber Vacation Homes, spoke on behalf of one of the business’s owners, Brian Olson. Beachcomber Vacation Homes operates just over 100 vacation rentals in Cannon Beach.
Dotson, reading from a statement by Olson, said they understand the city’s desire to protect residential neighborhoods, but: “My concern is what happens when demand for vacation rentals continues but supply of legal permits becomes restricted.”
Olson, in his statement, worried about a proliferation of illegal, unregulated rentals in response to a cap.
The City Council left the hearing open in order to provide notice to the state about several changes to the proposed ordinance and will take up the matter again in early October.
Go here for more information about short-term rentals in Cannon Beach and the city’s consideration of a cap.