Short Term Rental
Controversy Discussed
In City Advisory Meeting
By Jared Acuna
Clatsop County is gaining quite the reputation for excellence in hospitality, experiencing a huge growth in tourism levels. Clatsop Current News recently invited the community to share its input on one of the fastest growing topics of 2017. It’s the hot debate surrounding Airbnb and the greater homestay boom in the county.
Does it work in our favor? Is it hurting business? Where will these people park? These are just small examples of the kinds of concerns being brought up with local residents renting out their house or room to outside visitors.
During a recent advisory meeting with two Astoria city councilors, Airbnb providers were given an opportunity to defend their business approach. Most interviewees who contributed to the dialogue wished to remain anonymous. That’s how serious this all is.
“It’s so individual,” said the consensus. “We’re appealing to select niche of travelers and tourists that want to experience the area the way we do and discover why we love it. They don’t want to see Astoria from the eyes of a name brand hotel.”
Which is not say that Airbnb hosts are stealing clients from hotels/motels which are owned and operated locally. Contrary to the opposition’s opinion, in-home hosts are addressing the issue of overflow.
Hotels, campsites and vacation homes are all booked months out. There’s just no room to accommodate every tourist looking for a spontaneous retreat here. The average traveler hoping to invest in everything our area has to offer isn’t getting the care and attention that they’re dollars should demand. What should be a weekend sadly turns into a day trip. This means less of their dollars are being spent in our community.
This is where local hosts come in. Not only do they eliminate the overflow problem, but most hosts have verified that they’re directing their guests on where to eat and what to do.
Let’s say a host has several guests a month and each of them dines out where the host has recommended. That’s continuous business to a local economy, even on slow nights. That might sound optimistic, but it’s the reality. These kinds of guests don’t go out to eat based on a flyer or website. They want to know where the locals are eating and they’re relying on host input on where to go.
Despite many benefits, including extra income for hosts which often gets spent right here in the community, there are some very real fears enveloping the boom. Those in favor of being hosts are feeling threatened by looming city restrictions.
“It’s grassroots. There’s no basis to compare us and tax us as full-time renters. Airbnb isn’t full time. It’s our extra space that’s used as we feel. Sometimes that’s a weekend paying customer from Portland. Other times that’s our relatives staying with us the way anyone would host their family: free at no charge. That’s not a rental business, that’s an effectively utilized home.”
With such large masses of people coming in through the Airbnb outlet, neighborhoods are weary that it’ll bring unwanted noise levels and congest parking on already tight streets.
Local hosts had this to say in response, “We’re screened. They’re screened. Nobody is booked in-home without host approval first. If an issue does arise, such as noise-level, the community can rest assured that guests are going to bother hosts before they bother you. Hosts are going to hear or see a problem first. At that point, it’ll be dealt with before you were ever aware anything happened. As for parking, these people are going to spend all day in town. They’re not sitting around all day in your residential area. In most cases, the host regulates and allocates appropriate parking on their street to avoid any impediment with a neighbors needs.”
What do you think? What concerns or compliments can you bring to the discussion? Tell the editor at lisa@clatsopcurrentnews.com
