Current Listing

On April 6, 2022, the council majority voted to dilute a resolution temporarily freezing the number of short-term rentals. That resolution, drafted by the city manager and vetted by the city attorney (at the direction of the council), would have capped the number of STRs citywide. But after two property owners (now building homes at 3rd and Merton) complained that they wouldn’t be able to get STR licenses that they were told would be available, the mayor and the council majority changed their tune and exempted the R4 and C1 zones from the cap. Only Councilman Spegman voted no.
It was a bad move.  Removing the two zones from the cap allows the number of STRs in the city to keep increasing — and flies in the face of the original resolution, which aimed to hold the line until more information could be gathered from a work group being formed to study the issue. You don’t base policy decisions on the objections of two homeowners. Simply put: Our leaders didn’t keep their word. They promised one thing and delivered another —  and were more swayed by private interests than the public good — or the facts . To correct a problem, you need to understand it. To learn more about the density of STRs in our community, click here:

https://youtu.be/C_cZcGcEk5k

tinyurl.com/3nsekbsn

If you want the scary picture picture show of what condition the Cannon Beach buildings are in, take a look here: www.ci.cannon-beach.or.us/executive/page/cannon-beach-elementary-rejuvenation-project-0

So what are new build City Hall building costs these days? Lebanon is in the process of planning their new City Hall with projected costs of $854-890 per sq ft. and this is for a project in the heart of the Willamette Valley. Our City Manager has already announced that this will be a very expensive project. Our new architect will have to keep the budget in mind as he fields the wish list of citizen wants in their new City Hall during his community outreach. Given the reality of current construction costs and what the City can afford in order to go into 30 years of debt to pay for this project, expect to hear that we can build smaller or cheaper or most likely smaller and cheaper.

Let’s hope that the City Hall Project Team is looking out for the interests of Manzanita taxpayers/residents and are prepared to explain why our Mayor and Council should continue to ignore the creative and responsible fiscal and project development decisions being made by their counterparts in Cannon Beach. The most expensive infrastructure project in the City’s history that will be made without a vote of the residents deserves nothing less.

In my last post I got something wrong and I apologize for the misinformation. It was unintentional.

To clarify R4 and the Commercial zones are excluded from the STR freeze.

R3 is included in the freeze.

Despite efforts to fact check, the city website hadn’t been updated at the time I posted so I relied on memory. I should have waited until I could listen to the meeting a second time.

In the future, I will.

Kim Rosenberg loretta.kim.rosenberg@gmail.com

Recent discussion and decisions made at the Manzanita Council meeting of April 6th have resulted in comments by several community members in the BBQ and other social media platforms. The bulk of the comments have been related to short-term rentals in the city. As we all strive to ensure the continued quality of life in our community, working together with accurate information is critical. The City of Manzanita elected officials and many citizen volunteers have been working towards various quality-of-life issues in our community for a number of years. In the spirit of this Councilor’s outreach and dialogue to ALL members of our community, I offer the following:

• At the April 6th City Council meeting, the Council approved by resolution a pause on the issuance of any additional short-term rental licenses beyond the existing 229 in the R2, R3 and SSR capped zones. These zones represent 90% of all short-term rentals in Manzanita.

• Prior to the vote, the Council voted to amend the resolution to exclude the C-1 and R-4 zones from the pause. Why would the Council make this modification? The main reason was that the R4 and C1 zones have never been capped and are zones intended for both denser housing, hotels, short-term rentals, and other commercial use. In Manzanita, the C1 (Commercial Zone) and R4 (Higher Density/Limited Commercial) are located on Laneda, and approximately one block to each side and provide a narrow buffer strip between the commercial and lower density housing neighborhoods.

• The R4 and C1 zones that are not part of the pause represent approximately 10% of all short-term rental licenses in Manzanita.

• The pause approved by the Council during the April 6th Council meeting is intended to allow for community study of the impact that an increasing number of short-term rentals have on the quality of life in Manzanita.

• The city has been actively involved in the identification and potential mitigation of livability concerns that short-term rentals present in our communities since 2019. A comprehensive report was issued by an appointed workgroup in February 2021 that outlined nearly 20 livability strategies and also included longer range opportunities for improvement that are currently underway. This report can be viewed at: ci.manzanita.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FINAL-STR-WORKGROUP-REPORT-TO-THE-MANZANITA-CITY-COUNCIL-February-15-2021-transmitted-1100.pdf

• The City of Manzanita is currently recruiting volunteers to serve on a short-term rental standing committee that will conduct public meetings and outreach to ascertain even more strategies for maintaining the quality of life in Manzanita. Applications will be accepted until April 15th (tomorrow!). Interested community members should make application by completing the form located at: ci.manzanita.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/03.21.22-Application-for-STR-Committee.pdf

In addition, the Mayor and City Council have already embarked on a Budget Revenue Diversification process to explore alternative funding sources to offset the reliance on Short-Term Rental income. They will also direct the Short-Term Rental Committee to study specific livability issues in an effort to address community concerns related to STRs in residential areas. I, as an elected official, do listen to my constituents. The vast majority agree with me that we cannot and should not ban tourists from our town. Instead, we must responsibly manage our growth and the revenue needed to sustain required services.

Questions? Take the time to reach out to the city at strprogram@ci.manzanita.or.us or by contacting an elected City Council member. The contact information for the City Council can be found at: ci.manzanita.or.us/city-council/.

Thank you for your interest and my very best wishes for a wonderful spring,

Steve Nuttall, Manzanita City Councilor

(NOTE:) The information and comments contained in this post are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the City of Manzanita or other City Council members.