The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners is inviting public comment on draft regulations for short-term/vacation rental properties in unincorporated areas.
Clackamas County defines a short-term rental as a lodging unit rented for no more than 30 consecutive nights. Think: AirBnB and other, similar vacation rental marketplaces.
The new regulations are designed to correct several problems, the first of which is that the zoning codes currently on the book do not address short-term rentals at all. Technically, short-term rentals are not allowed in unincorporated Clackamas County; and yet, county staff know that hundreds, if not thousands, of these properties do exist.
They line the slopes of Mount Hood and other popular outdoor destinations, and they service the ever-growing Clackamas County wine tourism scene. The county estimates that perhaps as many as 1.5 percent of homes in unincorporated Clackamas County are being used as short-term rentals.
The lack of regulation makes it harder for the county respond to neighbor complaints about these properties, which may include noise, parking issues, trash and other nuisances.
It also creates inequity with the county’s Transient Lodging Tax, a 6 percent tax that hotels, motels and campgrounds have to pay, but which AirBnB operators are currently able to avoid.
Under the draft regulations, short-term rentals would be required to register with the county and pay a registration fee. They would also be subject to certain requirements for maximum occupancy, garbage disposal, quiet hours and building and safety regulations.
To view and submit comment on the proposed regulations, visit clackamas.us/planning/str.