Bend vacation home rental proposals debated

After months of debate, Bend’s Vacation Home Rental Task Force is pushing the proposals they made forward. Changes are on the way for rentals in Bend.

The Bend Planning Commission heard from many residents Monday night at City Hall. Due to the change in tourism and vacationing within the city, and a fast-rising tide of homes becoming vacation rentals, neighbor complaints came to the city council, which decided last year some solutions were needed.

But the issues have plenty of sticking points – for example, some people suggested that long-term rentals can be more problematic than short-term visitors.

“Fireworks during the summer, loud cussing to the point where I had to shut my windows because I didn’t want my kids to hear it,” a mother and neighbor to a long-term rental tri-plex said, adding that she befriended the short-term rental neighbors, who were “fantastic.”

Requirements currently say that a vacation home rental is defined as a dwelling unit rented 21 or fewer days per tenant. The task force has recommended to change the definition to be fewer than 30 days.

Other proposed changes include: renaming “Vacation Home Rentals” to “Short-Term Rentals,” defining such rentals as fewer than 30 days, and that any new permits issued to a property owner cannot be transferable to a new owner.

The task force has proposed two options for limiting the density or concentration of vacation rentals in a neighborhood: 1.), maximum percentage (5-10%) of properties within a 250 foot radius could be vacation home rentals, or 2.) in addition to Option 1.), adding a quarter-mile radius, using the 5 to 10 percent model.

The planning commission is scheduled to meet on March 9 in order to make their final decisions to present to the city council on March 18.

To learn more: http://www.bendoregon.gov/index.aspx?page=1231