Astoria council debates licensing and possible cap on vacation rentals amid housing concerns

Astoria City Council spent more than an hour discussing a proposed licensing regime for vacation rentals that would require operators to obtain city-issued licenses, disclose listing IDs and submit to life-safety inspections and renewal fees.

City staff said the draft ordinance is modeled on the city—s homestay template but tailored for vacation rentals and hotel-style units. Matt Brammeier, the community development director, told the council the draft sets a license-and-fee framework and clarifies definitions, noting the city currently counts roughly 31 properties with 70 units in commercial zones and about "a little above 100" units when pipeline projects are included.

Several councilors said licensing is useful for tracking and enforcement and urged adding a cap on new licenses. Councilor Davis said he supports a cap and proposed a mechanism to allow license holders to transfer or sell licenses if a limit creates a marketable scarcity: "If we set a cap, I would like some sort of mechanism for people to transfer that license," he said. Councilor Adams urged that a cap be considered to protect housing supply, saying the measure supports the council—s housing goals.

Not all councilors agreed a strict cap is needed. Councilor Brownson cautioned that commercial-zone short-term rentals are often limited by available space and predicted a cap might not meaningfully change housing availability, while also endorsing fees and posting license numbers in ads to aid enforcement.

Residents who spoke during public comment said conversions of long-term units into short-term rentals are already occurring and that a license would improve transparency. "When those units are vacated, they are being converted into vacation rentals," said Andy Kipp, who urged a reasonable cap to preserve housing. Vance Lump and Bob McGee also encouraged licensing, inspections and data collection to inform policy.

Staff said the draft leaves some design choices open, including whether licenses should be transferable (currently the draft ties the license to the operator) and how to set fees to cover administrative and inspection costs. Councilors asked staff for additional data and examples from other cities and signaled they'll return with more detailed options — including a proposed cap number — rather than setting a cap this meeting.

Next steps: staff will refine the draft, supply additional data about existing units and pipeline projects, and return to council with options for caps, transfer rules and fee schedules.