Enterprise puts hold on any new Airbnbs

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, May 12, 2021

ENTERPRISE — New Airbnbs in Enterprise are on hold. The city council during its meeting Monday, May 10, approved a 90-day moratorium on any new Airbnbs in town.

Despite some disagreement between council members over the rights of property owners, the council unanimously approved a resolution affirming the three-month ban with the option to extend it for another 90 days.

City Administrator Lacey McQuead said she reached out to Airbnb owners to get their input with only limited response.

“The planning commission held a meeting. I sent out nine invites to Airbnb owners within the city of Enterprise,” McQuead said. “There are 16 Airbnbs so that means seven of them are not registered with us. Out of the nine, one couple showed up, but I did get some input from some other Airbnb owners. (Enterprise resident) Stacy Green also attended the planning commission meeting. There was great conversation between them — they happened to be neighbors, so the one she was concerned about had someone attending.”

Still, McQuead seemed disappointed more Airbnb owners hadn’t responded.

“That was it,” she said. “Even with all the advertising and invitations to come to the planning commission meeting and I invited them to come to this meeting, as well. That was all that we received.”

One of the main issues seemed to be the availability of affordable housing.

McQuead presented a letter from the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District that she asked Mayor Ashley Sullivan to read into the record.

The letter was largely about short-term vacation rentals in residential zones and the economic impact of them.

The NEOEDD recently conducted a Community Needs Assessment to assess the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since January, NEOEDD conducted more than 70 interviews with a wide variety of community leaders and organizations.

“Like many other rural areas, housing-related challenges are widespread,” the assessment stated.

Among the results of the assessment were:

• More affordable housing is needed for workforce and moderate-income families and individuals. A lack exists due to the conversion of residential housing to tourism lodging by absentee property owners and second homeowners.

• Limited rental options are available for tenants due to them being priced out of units because of increasing property values.

The letter also cited the real-dollar impacts.

• People working in lower-wage jobs … have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The majority of jobs in the region pay less than $15 per hour, while two adults working full time would each need to earn at least $16.06 per hour to cover basic needs in a household with one child, $19.88 per hour for two children and $23.09 an hour for three children.

• Lack of affordable workforce housing, an aging population, the high cost of living and underemployment have negative effects on retaining a workforce.

The letter stated that because the city has zoning ordinances, “education and outreach could help spread understanding of the permitting requirements involved and the process by which conflicts are addressed.”

The NEOEDD also urged the city to review Hood River’s example. That city recognized the benefits both of visitor lodging and the downside of converting limited housing to visitor use.

McQuead said interest in Airbnbs hasn’t subsided, and concerns over where the Airbnb owners would live was an issue.