Property owner settles with Manzanita over rental fines

MANZANITA, Ore. (AP) – A property owner has reached a tentative settlement with city of Manzanita that frees her from paying nearly $2 million in vacation rental fines.

The Daily Astorian reports Thursday that in exchange, Sandra Petersen will drop a federal lawsuit that alleged the city’s enforcement of its vacation rental ordinance was unconstitutional.

The legal fight got attention on the Oregon Coast because many cities are struggling to regulate vacation rentals.

Petersen is a co-trustee of the Kingwood Trust, which owns the vacation rental in question.

She was fined for operating a vacation rental without a license and for not paying the lodging tax.

She says she was not notified of the citations until last October, nearly two years after the first alleged violation.

The City Council must approve the tentative deal.

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Information from: The Daily Astorian, http://www.dailyastorian.com