County to Decide on STR Rules May 20
Come on down to the Board of Commissioners Monday May 20 for the final(?) hearing and find out if they adopt long awaited rules for
Short Term Rentals (STRs) in Hood River County. The Commissioners held a first hearing in April and they are set to vote on the proposed changes at the May 20 hearing which starts at 6 pm at the County Administration Building, 601 State St.
After a huge push from the public, the Commission will be deliberating on new rules that will require STR operators to be real residents of the STR property. Check out the petition to see comments from folks in Hood River on why these rules are needed. While we’re hopeful that this code will be adopted, it’s not done until the Board votes on the new code. Your presence at the hearing -either to give testimony or just to observe- will help.
Under the proposed rules, only folks who can prove they live permanently in Hood River will be allowed to rent out their homes as short term rentals. This approach has been used successfully throughout the US (including in the City of Hood River!) to help preserve housing for people who live here year round and protect neighbors from “the party house next door.”
Go to our website for more details on the code changes and why they matter. If you want to dig deeper, here are the proposed Code Changes for Short Term Rentals and staff report for the hearing.
If you can’t make the hearing but still want to encourage the Commissioners to adopt the new rules, you can email them:
Commission Chair Mike Oates, 541-490-2441, mike.oates@co.hood-river.or.us
Commissioner Karen Joplin, 541-308-5526, Karen.joplin@co.hood-river.or.us
Commissioner Rich McBride, 541-490-6567, rmcbride@co.hood-river.or.us
Commissioner Bob Benton, 541-490-8275, bob.benton@co.hood-river.or.us
Commissioner Les Perkins, 541-490-4062, les.perkins@co.hood-river.or.us
Interim Community Development Director, Eric Walker, eric.walker@co.hood-river.or.us
If you send an email to the county, can you also email a copy to us?