FAQs 1 — 15neighborhoods

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

Media contacts are listed in the far right column, at the end of the FAQs

1. What is happening with 15neighborhoods since the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) decision on ballot measure 21-203?

15neighborhoods is still active and concerned with livability in Lincoln County. We are willing to work with the County now and in the future.

2. Will there be another initiative petition and signature drive?

While that is a lot of work and effort on the part of 15neighborhood volunteers, if that is what is needed to get to our goal of a phase out of STRs in single-family neighborhoods in unincorporated Lincoln County, we will do whatever is necessary to get there with you! It is our hope that this go-round our elected officials will take the lead on this issue.

We know what our fellow residents voted for in November of 2021 and it was not just more unenforceable regulations, occupancy limits and no phase out.

3. How can I help?

At this time, you can help with financial donations. We are still working with our attorney as we wait for decisions from Lincoln County and the pending lawsuits against the licensing suspension and County Ordinance 523. These are not lawsuits against the ballot measure since that suit was decided at LUBA which ruled the ballot measure a land use measure.

And while we disagree with this, we chose not to appeal the decision. We also disagree with LUBA that the entire ballot measure should be struck down. We feel that many parts of 21-203 are still viable and have nothing to do with land use. LUBA did not seem to accept or understand the clear severability clause. 21-203 is clear on this point: there is severability and you can void one part while leaving the rest of 21-203 intact.

If the County decides against a phase-out, you can help with money and time by volunteering in your neighborhood to collect signatures should we need to get another initiative petition circulating among Lincoln County voters.

If you need more information or wish to volunteer, please use the contact sheet on this website or email us at 15neighborhoods@gmail.com.

4. Letters to the Editor (LTE)

Another way you can help is by writing an LTE. One topic that comes to mind is this: if the Lincoln County Sheriff is making on-air and in print pleas about a lack of resources to respond to non-emergency calls, why would the County not want to stop licensing STRs not just temporarily, but forever? The Sheriff's Office is tasked with not only the licensing part of STRs in the County, but also with responding to problems at those rentals. With not enough staff to adequately handle local issues, how can the Sheriff's Department also manage 500+ STRs? Answer: They can't.

Another related LTE could be about the licensing cost for an STR license. It is far too low. When team STR brags about how lucrative that license is and how much money they take from Lincoln County with that license, those minimal fees should be raised to allow for more enforcement. A piece that is so badly missing that even team STR has said is that we need better enforcement of the existing rules. And while 15neighborhoods disagrees with much of that, enforcing any of the rules would be better than enforcing nothing which is pretty much where we are today. Raising licensing fees would take the burden of enforcement off of the citizens of Lincoln County and allow those making the decisions the financial means to look at either hiring more enforcement staff or outsourcing a part of that function.

Last LTE suggestion: the County has only considered caps on STRs not the voter approved phase-out. Why not ask the County in an LTE why they do not want to do what the voters voted for: phase out STRs in single-family neighborhoods in the unincorporated areas of Lincoln County. Explain that because these are business licenses, all that needs to be done is to stop issuing licenses in neighborhoods and when the existing ones are up for renewal, simply do not renew them. This will help with speculators investing in properties that were designed for families to live in. And if these investors want to rent out said property, they must do it long term. This would help our local families live and work in the same place. Not have an hour or longer commute to their job.

5. Spread the word, help others.

Many other counties in Oregon are facing the same challenges as Lincoln County, housing for residents versus investment properties for the rich. 15neighborhoods has been working with representatives from other counties throughout Oregon to help them get their neighborhoods back, too. You can reach out to those in other areas of Oregon and tell them what you did to help curb the "Oregon land grab."

And you can tell them to go to: 15neighborhoods.com for more information. We are all in this together, sometimes just knowing there are others fighting the same battle helps us not to feel isolated and alone.

Thank you!

Thank you Lincoln County voters, thank you.

Contact Information for “Letters to the Editor” (LTE) and the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners

All Letters to the Editor (LTE) and Viewpoints require your name and snail mail address. Your snail mail address is required for verification purposes only. It is not published.

Newport News-Times has the largest circulation. It publishes both in print and online and maintains a daily fb presence. An LTE or Viewpoint received by Monday COB will be published, space available, in the single Friday edition. LTEs and Viewpoints published on Friday remain in circulation until the following Wednesday (5 days) as opposed to 2 days when published in the Wednesday edition.

Steve Card of the Newport News-Times may not publish a letter he sees elsewhere. Try to time your submittal of the same letter to Yachats News, News Lincoln County, and The News Guard to avoid this. The other news sources don’t mind.

If you can keep your LTE to 250 words, not only will Lincoln City’s The News-Guard (250 words) print it, but so will Yachats News (350 words) and the Newport News-Times (either 300 or 600 words). News Lincoln County will print any length LTE on STRs.

Have fun.

Print Media

Newport News-Times (LTE 300 words, Viewpoint 600 words)

Steve Card, Community Editor

scard@newportnewstimes.com

831 NE Avery, Newport

www.newportnewstimes.com

The News-Guard (LTE 250 words)

newsguardeditor@countrymedia.net

https://www.thenewsguard.com/site/forms/online_services/submit_a_letter/

https://www.thenewsguard.com

541-994-2178