||| FROM JOE SYMONS |||
How many articles does CC need to receive in order to realize that the existing moratorium is a sham, that STRs are causing serious problems everywhere in the world, and that the vast majority of the residents of SJC want to place a meaningful cap on STR permits.
No one is asking what is the “right” cap. People are only imagining what is politically acceptable. The majority want a cap to include only VRPs that were permitted and compliant as of July 2021. The majority want the VRP to expire when the land sells. The majority want to preserve and protect their emotional and financial investment in living in the san juans.
The “right” cap would take a much more thoughtful approach as to county, island and neighborhood impact. We are not having that conversation. Why? Because Council doesn’t have the courage to do the right thing. We elected them to be proactive and responsible. They are neither.
Wise, thoughtful, and fair solutions can be crafted from serious public conversations. It won’t be fast or easy, but it is the only way to do this right. The public process on this topic is abysmally inadequate. Why?
No imagination, no courage, no leadership.
If CC is insufficiently caffeinated, I’ll be happy to buy all the coffee you need to wake up.
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Joe Symons has a vacation rental. He stated publicly that VR owners should support the most restrictive cap possible because then they, like himself, can charge higher prices for their permitted, compliant (grandfathered) vacation rental.
The only “majority” that seems clear to me after reporting extensively on this topic is the majority of those commenting from Orcas in favor of a more restrictive cap, but to assume that the reason current VR owners want such a cap is to jack up their prices barely meets the level of an insupportable opinion.
Let’s stick to the facts, as close as we can get to them.
I am in favor of a cap because the 14 short-term rentals in my neighborhood do have negative impacts and until those impacts are mitigated no new rental should be permitted.
Each island has different conditions and concerns and a cap needs to be tailored to each island’s situation. On Shaw and Waldron vacation rentals are not permitted at all. Orcas is the most heavily impacted by vacation rentals and needs a much more restricted cap than San Juan. Lopez is also in a very different situation and should have a cap based on it’s particular situation. A county wide cap should be based the total of each island’s very particular designated cap. One size does not fit all.
Right now there is no limit on the number of vacation rentals, essentially commercial enterprises, in designated residential zones – it’s absurd.
I so appreciate all the Vibrato in this discussion..
My world.. there is absolutely a concern of balanced percentages of transient rentals that should be Monitored.
How that’s done, I’m not sure, we as a County seem to be reaction oriented.. which is like all things, too late for true balance.
I’m going to trust those elected to do their best to KNOW THE FACTS and demonstrate good governance. That’s their job and responsibility.
To throw numbers of what that should look like is as absurd as me trying to solve world Peace. Why wouldn’t all want World Peace?
To those elected, do your work.. well, with balanced judgment and move on.
Thank you. You are in charge.
Dan, if Joe didn’t actually say that, to you- if that’s not a direct, first-person quote- then you should probably think very hard about retracting that statement. It’s not really the kind of thing you should just be throwing out there on a speculative whim.
I agree with Joe, especially about the current council. We voted these specific people in for specific reasons, and- surprise, surprise- nothing’s changing. Status quo in the San Juans. A comfortable status quo for the wealthy; not so much for everyone else.
Eventually these islands will be left with no workforce, no young families, no artisans. Very few if any basic goods and services. Nobody but wealthy people, tourists, and vacation rentals, and the seasonal work force (who will be… sleeping in tents? Shipped in on a chartered ferry? In quonset huts?) to serve them.
I thought this council would start moving things in a different direction, but no dice.
Mathew, your response to my comment is a non sequitur. I never inferred that “the reason current VR owners want such a cap is to jack up their prices”. Most VR oners are actually against the cap. And as for your comment about “facts”, I stand by what I said. Do your research.
It’s impressive that no Orcasonian would ever think of vacationing off the island as to do so would be hypocritical of the tourism ban you so desire. I guess that’s why none of you have ever been to Cabo and rented there? Just joking, in case that wasn’t obvious enough.
For the record, there is no research on what VR owners as a group want or don’t want, but if Joe did say that in a public forum (citation needed?), it is indeed a “fact,” and I stand corrected.
Good heavens! The numbers for each island speak for themselves. Orcas is “bleeding” vacation rentals – even one of our councilors used those words and he is right. Cindy Wolf has stood up for us here on Orcas on this issue Jamie Stephens admit Orcas Island is taking the hit, especially in our “UGA.” Chris Minney? Well, I was all for endorsing Sharon Kivisto and Ryan Palmateer would both have been better picks, and more likely sympathetic to our plight here. We need to stick with the 413 numbers – no reneging on this. The graphs and other proofs are on the county website for all to see, concerning the GROSS imbalance of vacation rentals on Orcas compared to the other islands. Let’s tell the truth here and top nitpicking stuff that is beside the point. I don’t care at this point WHO has a VR and WHO does not. I care about the numbers and the load we are forced to take on Orcas. We need to fix it!
Mostly I’d like to know where Joe gets his information about what the majority wants. Was there a poll, or a secret meeting that I as a property owner, tax payer and long time islander wasn’t invited to? He makes many statements about what the “vast majority” wants. I’m not saying at all that I agree or disagree with Joe, I just wonder about people who claim to speak for the masses without any discernable credentials.
Hey Buddy. Go to the meetings. The vast majority want less VRs.
You mean to say, the vast majority of the people AT THE MEETINGS want it. Joe said the vast majority of San Juan County residents are against it. That means he, and you, are representing something like 10,000 people. Goodness, how many people were at this meeting! So I state again, where do you get this information? And again, I’m not arguing against the idea of the moratorium, just wondering where you guys get the data to speak for 10,000 people, because I’d love to review that information for myself. I suspect the county council would love to see that as well.