The Solution Seems Obvious

Upon receiving complaints about livability issues regarding vacation rentals in local neighborhoods, the Bend City Council chose to proceed cautiously and appoint a 23-person task force consisting of various stakeholders (residents, property owners, managers and tourism representatives) who have been reviewing and attempting to make recommendations about regulating vacation rentals.

Recently the Bend Planning Commission took testimony from local residents, vacation property owners and managers as it reviews new regulations that could impact the vitality and viability of the vacation rental business as well as homeowners ability to rent out their residents.

The vacation rental controversy stems mostly from two westside neighborhoods who have, in some views, an over abundance of homes that are rented out to visitors. The vast majority of the time the visitors come and go and no one is bothered by their presence. However, occasionally there’s a problem when late night celebrations become noisy and out of control, bothering surrounding neighbors. It’s easier to resolve some of these problems when the house is managed by a responsible and professional property manager. But often the house has been rented by an absent homeowner and the only recourse the neighbors have is to call the police (or try to resolve it themselves). The lack of accountability in these cases is aggravating.

Overtime it’s understandable that neighbors impacted by unruly tenants become frustrated and resent the vacation rentals. So it seems appropriate to try to put some regulations in place that would alleviate some of these challenges. Neighbors should be able to contact a responsible party in charge of the vacation rental.

The volunteer task force under the guidance of City staff have been meeting since last October to draft new regulations. The task force was divided on the outcome, some wanting very strict regulations but most agreeing that changes are in order. It seemed that during the task force deliberations one particular task force member wanted to eliminate vacation rentals completely. He had become highly resentful of a neighbor who turned their residence into a vacation rental and has vowed to get even, resorting to bullying the visitors to his neighborhood.

One thing remains clear as the deliberations continue: vacation rentals are a significant contributor to our economy.

As Doug La Placa of Visit Bend points out, Bend’s tourism industry has grown substantially over the past 10 years and with that growth so too have Bend’s tourist amenities evolved (restaurants, breweries, shopping, entertainment, recreational assets, etc.). However, during the same timeframe, the inventory of available hotel and motel rooms has not kept pace with the growth and evolution of the other segments of Bend’s tourism industry. As a result, vacation rentals have become an integral component of Bend’s thriving tourism economy. Ten percent of the available lodging units in Bend are vacation rentals, but 18 percent of Bend’s visitors stay in vacation rentals.

Vacation rental tenants should be subject to the same kind of courtesies that residents adhere to: keeping the noise down, parking in your own driveway, maintaining your property and not having numerous people coming and going at all hours of the night. Most vacation rental companies and most homeowners who rent out their homes to visitors are cognizant of being a good neighbor. But they can’t always control the behavior of their guests and the city then faces a dilemma to resolve these issue.

The answer: keep it simple. Don’t make it so complicated and restrictive that vacation rental are eliminated.

Neighbors should have access to responsible parties so they can let them know about problems. Any rented living space, whether long-term or part-time should be monitored by the owner who must take responsibility for the problems. At the same time neighbors should not be able to harass visitors and make their stay uncomfortable.

Any plan to put a cap on vacation rentals within neighborhoods should not be too stringent and inflexible. Restricting what homeowners can do with their property can most certainly generate lawsuits.

It would be really unfortunate to make vacations rentals so difficult for homeowners and property managers that Bend became known as an unfriendly place for tourists. Tourism is a top economic contributor in Bend and thanks to Visit Bend it is increasingly known as a destination of choice for travelers from all over the world. Having distinctive and affordable accommodations in the form of short-term rentals is important to our tourism industry.