City Council approves changes to short-term rental rules

not everyone thinks the current policy needs updating.

The Portland City Council on Monday night approved new short-term rental rules aimed at slowing the trend of renting private homes and apartments through services like Airbnb.

Councilors passed rules that will allow property owners to register only one short-term rental per year. Councilors also increased the cap on non-owner occupied short-term rental units to 400 from the present 300 units.

Mayor Ethan Strimling said the vote was disappointing and would hurt affordable housing in the city.

“This body will be back looking at short-term rentals in a few years because we didn’t get it right,” he said.

But Councilor Justin Costa said focusing on short-term rentals ignored many other reasons Portland has an affordable housing problem.

“The more we take out one tiny piece and try to focus on that and make that the stand-in for the issue of housing affordability, that does not do justice to the issue here,” Costa said.

“Pitting neighbor against neighbor is not going to help us solve this problem and it is not going to make anyone’s lives any better.”

Presently, the ordinance allows apartment building owners to rent units they don’t live in short term, as long as they live in the building. As a consequence, there are actually 315 units rented in non-owner occupied apartments and houses.

Another 31 units in owner-occupied buildings are on a city waiting list, making a total of 346 rental units not in a primary residence.

Some are concerned that if the trend continues, it will have a serious effect on the city’s long-term housing stock and worsen Portland’s affordability problem.

“I don’t want any building to be completely dominated by short-term rentals,” District 1 Councilor Belinda Ray said.

The practice of renting a private room, home or apartment for a night or two has become a popular alternative to hotels, spread through online services like Airbnb.

Supporters of short-term rentals say it supports local economies and helps homeowners pay for taxes and improvements.

Critics, however, contend that short-term rentals are taking needed housing for full-time residents off the market, pushing rents up and eroding neighborhood character.

The updated ordinance clarifies that after the new rules take effect on Dec. 1 only homes or apartments that are a primary residence can be registered as owner-occupied. The non-owner occupied units that are registered, even those that exceed the cap, can be re-registered for the next year.

Several property owners who spoke at the meeting Monday said they made improvements to their multi-unit buildings they live in with the expectation they could rent them short-term. They were dismayed to learn the rules were changing and were not allowed to register a short-term rental in their building.

Thibodeau, the District 2 councilor, said the rules work and do not need a wholesale rewrite. He also doesn’t think there is evidence short-term rentals are eroding the city’s affordable housing stock.

“In short, I don’t think we should pin the affordability crisis on the shared economy,” he said.

Airbnb also believes the city’s new rules go too far.

“Simply put, we believe that there is clear value in continuing to foster STR activity among non-primary residences and that there is no evidence suggesting that short-term rental activity is a primary driver of rent increases in the city of Portland,” said Josh Meltzer, chief of Northeast public policy for the online company.

Instead, Airbnb advocates a tiered approach that would distinguish between and have progressive regulatory schemes for occasional hosts, regular hosts for primary residences and non-primary home hosts.

While it supports grandfathering existing registered units above the cap “we encourage the council to recognize the benefits of allowing new hosts to also list secondary homes going forward,” Meltzer said.

But some neighborhood activists don’t believe the council’s new rules go far enough.

Last week, a group called Munjoy Hill Conservation Collaborative sent councilors a petition with 35 signatures demanding a one-person, one-listing system only for primary residences or a tenant who has landlord approval – similar to the rules passed by South Portland voters on Nov. 6.

Karen Snyder, a member of the collaborative who lives on Waterville Street, is disappointed the city is honoring registered non-owner occupied units that now exceed the limit.

She’s also worried people will find new loopholes in the city’s ordinance and keep registering new non owner-occupied units.

“Ultimately, I think it is a step in the right direction, but if you actually review the ordinance right now, it is really wordy and sometimes not really clear,” Snyder said.

“Creating a new one from scratch would be better,” she added. “You are just trying to fix a broken policy, putting a band-aid on it.”

Peter McGuire can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:

pmcguire@pressherald.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire

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Five takeaways from the Lakers’ 114-110 win over the Portland Trail Blazers

Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and center JaVale McGee, right, block a shot from Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic (27) during the first half of a game on Saturday. (Craig Mitchelldyer / Associated Press)

These two games felt like scheduled losses for the Lakers. After a drama-filled week with news of a tense interaction between Luke Walton and Magic Johnson, the Lakers had Portland on the road and then were to return home to play the east-leading Toronto Raptors the next day.

Instead, the Lakers notched their first win in Portland since the 2013-14 season and are 2-0 since that much-talked-about meeting Tuesday.

1. Rajon Rondo was tremendous on the court of the Lakers and had an amusing interaction with a fan at the end of the game. Walton said he orchestrated a “beautiful game.” His play was a major part of why the Lakers won that game.

Then in the game’s closing seconds, as Portland fans began to leave in frustration, Rondo looked engaged in conversation with a woman sitting courtside.

“She said she loved my shoes and I was telling her I loved hers,” Rondo said after the game. He was told she waved goodbye. “Did she or [did she] shoot me the finger?” Rondo asked. “Which one?”

She actually made a hand motion indicating he was talking too much. “Oh she did that,” Rondo said. “Oh, [you can] tell her favorite character on ‘Muppet Babies’ was… who’s the guy who did this [moves his fingers like it’s a mouth]? Kermit?”

Lakers

2. JaVale McGee is about to get some help, but he’s shown his value to the Lakers so far. McGee had six blocks Saturday night and was critical for the Lakers defensively.

Their plan was to force Portland’s shooters inside and that plan depended on McGee being able to make them pay once they got there.

“I just try to be in the right places at the right time,” said McGee, who leads the NBA in blocks. “I got beat to the rim a couple times, but I was just really trying to focus on not letting that happen.”

3. Ivica Zubac got his first extended playing time all season. He’d only played seven minutes all season before this and not at all in the previous four games.

“Their second unit has been killing games. They had 50 [points] last game, I think, as a group,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. “And they’ve been playing that bigger lineup out there. And Zu, like I said, he’s been working hard and he’s looked good the last couple days. So we told him before that there’s a good chance he gets his number called so be ready.”

4. Walton joked with Josh Hart that it was nice to have him back. Of course, Hart didn’t go anywhere, but his play had slipped a bit over the past few games. Hart laughed when he was asked about Walton saying that. Then he was asked if moving to the bench affected him.

Lakers

“It’s a little different because I’m coming off the bench at the four,” Hart said. “So it’s different from a backup shooting guard to starting shooting guard to backup power forward. So the road’s a little different, but I have the opportunity, I showed them what I could do. And now it’s just helping this team win, and that’s whatever role I’m given and do that to the best of my ability.”

Hart took only three shots and made them all. Two of them were critical three-pointers. He also had an assist, a steal and two blocks. His impact extended far beyond

5. The Lakers defensive effort was better Saturday night than it has been all season. In speaking with players in the locker room, they felt that what changed was that the team sustained its effort.

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