Three months after he said he would quickly rule on a long-running legal battle over vacation rental regulations, a Lincoln County circuit judge is apparently ready to release his opinion.
Pro-tem judge Joseph Allison on Thursday scheduled a “status check” hearing for Dec. 4 – and informed lawyers for the county and vacation rental owners that he intends to issue his ruling before then.
Owners of 506 licensed vacation rentals in unincorporated areas of the county and their opponents who think they do not belong in residential neighborhoods have been waiting anxiously for Allison’s ruling. Vacation rental owners are also facing deadlines for license renewals and new regulations, including inspections, for septic systems.
The county’s ordinance does not affect hundreds of vacation rentals in seven cities, which have their own rules and regulations.
Allison held a 5-hour hearing Aug. 16 on a lawsuit by 20 vacation rental owners objecting to a county ordinance restricting the use of their properties. At the end of that hearing Allison said he intended to rule within two days – which stretched into three months and drew reminders from attorneys that he had state-mandated deadlines to make a decision.
Two days after the August hearing county commissioners took the pre-emptive step of putting a 1-year moratorium on issuing new licenses in case Allison tosses out the contested rules.
It is widely expected – including a statement by Allison himself in August – that the losing party will appeal his decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals.
There are currently 506 licensed vacation rentals in unicorporated Lincoln County. The ordinance being challenged would slowly drop the number of licenses to 181 as owners sold or changed the use of their houses.
The lawsuit, which consolidated and amended some previous filings, has been the subject of responses and motions by attorneys since 2021, including taking the issue to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. While the land-use board invalidated a voter-approved moratorium on vacation rentals, it has repeatedly ruled it has no jurisdiction over the county’s ordinances.
— Quinton Smith/YachatsNews
