Letter to County Council re Vacation Rentals

PLEASE respect the limits of our island’s infrastructure, and our need to pay more attention to low income housing than to greedy profiteering.

Vacation rentals are destroying our island community and leaving locals homeless, forcing beloved islanders to leave the island.

Do not permit turning the San Juans into yet another version of the "Once Beautiful Places"

Vacation rentals take away homes that could help with the housing shortage here on Orcas. Many vacation rentals are owned by people who do not even live here, for them it's just a business.

Keep the islands wild, rural, quiet and natural. The islands are not a cash machine but a place to keep natural and live in limited numbers. Stop flooding our islands with tourists by providing more housing. Stop putting profit over people, animals, nature and quality of life.

We are longtime Orcas homeowners. adamantly against VRs.

Vacation rentals that are located on an owner inhabited property are acceptable. Vacation rentals on otherwise uninhabited properties are a business use and should be restricted and regulated as such. A moratorium on non owner occupied properties should be in effect.

The indications are clear - difficult ferry reservations, wells drying up, more litter, more lines at the Exchange, less stock at local grocery stores, traffic. We are above carrying capacity for the islands. No one wants to impact the freedoms to do what one wants with their land, but the stress on the commons is obvious, and out-of-town ownership, especially, has little conscience.

VRs need to be regulated before it gets out of hand. The islands are unique in the limited transportation and services that can be overtaxed due to the high number of VRs.

Having lived on Orcas for over 30 years, I am deeply concerned by the negative effects of over-tourism that excessive vacation rentals are exacerbating—pressure on resources, over crowding of village and natural amenities, driving up housing costs and the negative impact on year round rental availability. I am counting on county officials to protect the quality of life in the San Juans.

I am in favor of the first cap,--413. Enough is enough.

Stand by your August 20, 2021 vote. Please protect and respect the carrying capacity of these beautiful islands. Thank you.

Please save our neighborhoods! Let's know who is living next door to us again. We are losing our communities to off island property owners. We need traditional rentals for locals again!

Please regulate Vacation Rentals!

Please stand by your August 20th decision to cap the number of VR permits at 413.

This is a time to listen to the majority of residents who are affected by the proliferation of these rentals, not only those who own vacation rentals.

Please do not undermine decisions the community has already made. Thank you

I have lived on Lopez since 1968. The islands are becoming just like anywhere else. I'd like to think that community is more important than money, but it is hard to have community when you go shopping and rarely see the same people more than once.

The decision you made on August 20 to freeze the number of VR permits at 413, along with the associated island-specific caps, was the correct one.

Please honor the August 20 cap on VR permits.