Townhomes converted to vacation rentals in Hammond

WARRENTON — The Planning Commission has approved the conversion of four townhomes into vacation rentals near the Hammond Marina.

Mark Hansen, of Jetty Street LLC, owns Jetty View Townhomes, a nine-unit complex in a commercial mixed-use zone on Fourth Avenue.

Docks

The Warrenton Planning Commission signed off on the conversion of four townhomes into vacation rentals near the Hammond Marina.

Hansen sought conditional use permits to covert three of the units into vacation rentals.

“We’ve done a number of measures to increase the security and the safety in the use of these short-term rentals … We even added it to the rental portion of our bylaws that no more than two vehicles can be parked on any property on the exterior at one time,” Hansen, who appeared via Zoom, told the Planning Commission at a meeting Thursday. “So that has to be part of the rental agreements. So anybody who violates any of those things, they lose the right of occupancy.”

John and Mary Bastin, of Oregon City, recently took over a unit at the complex and applied for a conditional use permit to convert the space into a vacation rental. The couple said they plan to use the unit themselves and rent it out while they are away.

“Mary and I’ve been in the business since 1982 as far as long-term rentals, and still own one duplex near where we live. And still do our own maintenance and everything else. But we’re sorting out management right now in the local area. We hope to have people that will clean the place, inspect the place (and) police it if we happen to have any violations or complaints,” John Bastin said.

With the lack of housing options for people who live on the North Coast, proposals to convert housing stock into vacation rentals often receive extra scrutiny from city and county leaders and residents.

Planning Commissioner Chris Hayward pushed to add conditions requiring property owners to have contacts available within 12 hours to address any concerns at the short-term rental units.

Commissioner Karin Hopper said part of her reasoning behind supporting the conversion of the townhomes into vacation rentals is the potential lodging tax revenue for the city.

“It’s a revenue generator for the city, you get 12% every single time. ... So it does actually make it so (that) maybe it can help facilitate some of the other things better,” she said.

Matthew Higgins, a resident, spoke out against the conversions. “Personally, I just want to state that when these properties were proposed, my impression was that they would be residences, owner-occupied residences,” he said. “And to have this proposal come to me after the fact is disappointing.”

The conditional use permit criteria includes informing tenants that the Warrenton Police Department will enforce violations in regard to parking, noise complaints and disorderly conduct.

“Typically, with vacation rentals, we’re having people from outside of Warrenton or even outside of the region come into our city, spend money at our restaurants and contribute to our local economy. But not everyone … are good neighbors,” said Matthew Ellis, the city’s planning director.