Residents and hosts press Clackamas County on enforcement, density and fire risk at Mount Hood STR town hall

Clackamas County officials held a packed town hall in Welches on short-term rental (STR) regulations and the county’s three-year pilot program, hearing sustained concerns about neighborhood livability, inconsistent compliance and fire risk alongside pleas to preserve small family-run rentals.

Residents described mounting problems that they say accompany concentrated STRs in the Mount Hood corridor. "We've hit the saturation point on this," said Mary Ellen Fitzgerald, a Welches resident, who told commissioners that about half the houses on her street now operate as short-term rentals and asked whether the county would consider density limits that would exclude owner-occupied units and government-camp uses.

The meeting chair and county staff reiterated the pilot’s scope: the Board approved the pilot in 2023, it has been extended twice, and it is set to expire June 30, 2026 unless the board takes other action. County staff said the pilot adds a modest surcharge — roughly $0.80 on a $100 rental — to help administer the program and that the…