||| FROM ISLAND STEWARDS |||
San Juan County (SJC) Council will be holding a public hearing via Zoom on Tuesday, Feb. 23 to discuss whether the moratorium on the issuance of Vacation Rental Permits should be maintained or abandoned.
Action Items:
Read the announcement regarding this hearing by the Vacation Rental Working Group.
Review the SJC Vacation Rental Web site.
Participate in this hearing:
Send a letter to the County Council
Sign up to testify via Zoom
(need ideas for what to say? see the comments that other signers have left)
Details
Background:
Visit VacationRentalsOrcas.org for a comprehensive explanation of the public concern about overtourism and the negative impacts of Vacation Rentals in the County.
The hearing on Feb 23 is to determine if the moratorium should continue and be extended until January 2023. The hearing is not intended to discuss possible solutions to the issue, but just whether the moratorium should be maintained.
Since summer 2019, over 3000 individuals have signed a change.org petition to request a moratorium on the issuance of new Vacation Rental Permits.
Read the transcript and/or the summary of the County Council workshop held 11 January 2021 discussing the possible implementation of a VR moratorium.
Washington State’s Growth Management Act (GMA) does not require that a county consider the impact of visitors in long range planning or in a county’s Comprehensive Plan (CP). (There is no GMA prohibition to regulate visitor impacts.) SJC is currently in the process of updating its CP.
A presentation in January 2021 reviews big picture issues regarding the county’s population future (i.e., locals and visitors). For a deeper dive, see KeepSanJuansWild.org
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We’re still in the middle of the pandemic that has severely affected our economy and quality of life. We are facing a climate change crisis that has the potential to throw the world into chaos and possibly make our planet unlivable.
But somehow the Vacation Rental Work Group has convinced the new County Council that curtailing vacation rentals is the first-most important thing that they have to deal with? The Biden administration lists COVID-19, racism, climate change, and the economy as the most pressing issues. The Council needs to consider how to reach zero carbon emissions with electric vehicles and solar power, not waste time on shutting the islands down to tourists, because that’s not going to happen.
Thank you Dan, this is exactly what I have been thinking. Could the county PLEASE focus on getting shots in the arms of our population so we can get back to somewhat of a normal life? We keep seeing apologies for a messed up online appointment system, how about spend your efforts fixing it?
Why do I feel like the county health dept. and the county council are two separate entities?
Perhaps the only way to wean the Island off of vacation tourist and rental dollars is to make the moratorium a minimum of 15 years and perhaps even 20. That would allow a full generation of Ocasians to be born and live without tourism and in so doing they would develop an entirely different way of making things work out economically on Orcas? Radical idea for sure, but I enjoy thinking outside the box.
…. That would allow a full generation of Orcasians to be born and live somewhere else because there will not be a viable economy in the county. (Exaggeration, I know, but you get the idea)
For twenty years I’ve been reading comments from people who have been tourists to the islands that eventually moved here saying that we need to curtail tourism and develop alternative industries to sustain the local economy. I believe that there are tremendously resourceful people here on the islands and that if there are other opportunities to create businesses and industries they will find them and give them a shot, but let’s face it, tourism is the biggest business here and it will continue to grow no matter what. The only thing that will be accomplished with a vacation rental moratorium is that the value of existing rental units will go up (and the daily rate will too), and your friends and neighbors will have a harder time making a living here.
Wait–an extension of the moratorium for two years? Why? Because someone has decided that there should be NO more vacation rentals, ever? This is like the guesthouse moratorium that lasted, I think SIX YEARS, keeping lots of people in limbo about their home building plans. How about Council sets to work studying the issue, and identify and quantify the problem, identify what proposed remedies for the problem are legal and practical, and perhaps even put the final issues to be resolved up for a vote?
As for having a generation grow up without tourism, more likely much of that generation will be elsewhere or not born in the first place. You need to realize that we have lots of well-established tourist accommodations and services wholly unrelated to vacation rentals, although vacation rentals are a long-tradition here, and how we got to know the island. This is not a new question–I’ve heard a constant drumbeat for diversification of the island economy for nearly two decades and not one practical solution — no, an island co-op of artisans will not do it; local ag can’t do it. I’ve heard of several small businesses that moved off-island because there wasn’t a sufficient workforce here. The best option I see is home-based workplaces for those people who can work virtually–something that is dawning on a large number of people and something that apparently has been driving our real estate boom. These folks will pay property taxes and use off-season services like restaurants, as well as increase school enrollment to some extent. Working at home means no commuting, also.
Well said, Peg. Thanks.
I agree with Peg Manning, but I think something has been left out of the conversation: tourism generally, for which we have as yet no Master Plan. The issurs of VRs and tourism overlap. It makes little sense to deal with them separately, for which I think it would be both prudent and productive to wrap both issues into one plan. This would require continuing the VR moratorium for the period and as part of of adoption the tourism master plan.
Is there any precedent for a Tourism Master Plan?
Could the Tourism Master Plan be to eliminate any island dependence on tourism or stipulate that tourism can’t be more than 5% (or any other number you like) of the economic pie including things like restaurant sales to non residents, grocery sales to non residents, rentals, employment of cleaners, hotels, and taxes collected?
Peg, yes, there is precedent for a Tourism Master Plan! This is one of the recommendations that Hosting on the Rock is making to Council:
continue to work on a master plan and stop demonizing Vacation Rentals when they are just one part of a larger, complex tourism issue.
Jan–Good to hear the other perspective for a change.
Neil Kaye–do you realize the percentage of the economy that depends on tourism? You make it sound like we could ban tourism with a few minor adjustments. Not so.
Peg, that’s exactly why I posted my comment! The vast majority of posts and all I hear from friends on Orcas is how terrible tourists are and how they need to be curtailed/limited or banned. In fact, banning tourism or even reducing it dramatically is actually easy to do (as I have posted previously,) but the repercussions would be significant. Orcas currently has a tourism dependent economy and so there needs to be an effort to either attract the type of tourists you want or to diversify the economy to other areas which is quite difficult for a small population that is older, more retired, and with limited non-service sector business opportunities. The sudden moratorium on VR’s sounds wonderful to so many (no tourists, no traffic, no waiting for ferries, no problem getting a table at your favorite restaurant, easy parking, etc.) but could have a significant negative economic impact. I am doubtful that the majority of Orcasians will ever see the real value in tourists and in second home owners who pay full taxes but use limited resources and thus subsidize full time residents.
Curious. What makes a “terrible tourist” ? Who are the tourists we want to attract? And who defined that criteria?
This is a moratorium to study the many issues surrounding vacation rentals – not a ban. it does not affect existing vacation rentals. There are currently very few requirements for getting and maintaing a vacation rental compared to licensing required for bed and breakfasts, hotels and resorts. Hopefully there will be some solid and fair regulations will come out of this effort.
There is one valid issue: Neighborhoods being adversely affected. The 2018 regulations will take care of this problem if the County enforces the those regulations.