Housing problem needs to be solved now | Letter

Published 11:40 am Wednesday, July 30, 2014

If there appears to be a shortage of housing on Orcas, you need look no further than homeaway.com and airbnb.com.

A recent search found more than 100 homes listed on homeaway and almost 40 listed on airbnb. Surely all these daily rentals must have a permit for being short-term rental and yet there is apparently no way to know.

According to one county official, monitoring the lodging industry falls to the treasurer, but that same official reported that, “the treasurer says she doesn’t have the resources to do it.”

I’m not opposed to individual commerce, but the community should ask if the consequences of ignoring this underground economy are acceptable or desired.

Some consequences are positive, like distributing revenue and permitting enterprise to benefit not just those that win the lottery for a short-term rental or can work the bureaucracy to get their property zoned correctly or get a CUP.

On the other hand, there is probably severe leakage or non-payment of lodging tax, sales tax and property tax (which support public services and our schools), and our island absorbs a higher influx of transient visitors that stress our services while displacing residents and workers from housing or making it unaffordable by driving up rents.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed now, not in months or years. Perhaps creating a searchable county database of approved short-term rentals and lodging would permit concerned citizens to monitor the websites and report possible violators to the prosecuting attorney. I’m sure there is a better solution.

I look forward to our community and government taking this on. If you share my concern, please contact your councilman, the treasurer’s office and the EPRC to voice your concern.

Tony Simpson

Olga