SEASIDE — Even having connections doesn’t help when it comes to finding a rental in Seaside.

“I was in a position where I needed housing, to find a house,” said City Councilor Seth Morrisey, a lifelong resident. “I couldn’t even get something on the high end. No amount of money could get me a place to live. I just knew there was a big problem.”’

According to the Oregon Employment Department, demographic statistics show an aging, affluent population of mostly second homeowners who occupy the housing stock yet drive the demand for labor.

That shortage has left seasonal, part-time and lower-wage workers squeezed out.

The need is clear especially for the large service industry feeding the tourism business. With 1,300 rooms in Seaside, and dozens of restaurants, shops and outlets to meet the needs of tourism, thousands of workers both seasonal and year-round are competing for living space.

“I sympathize with the business owners who can’t even find staff who can afford to live in the area,” Morrisey said. “There are huge waiting lists. Unless you can buy, there’s no way you can find a place.”

City Council President Don Johnson said workforce housing is a top priority. “We’ve worked very well to be come as popular a destination as we are, but now we have to figure out how to get workforce housing so they can live in the area and go to work,” Johnson said.

Clatsop Economic Development Resources has cast the problem in dire terms.

“You know where employees are living now?” Executive Director Kevin Leahy said. “They’re living at Fort Stevens. They’re living in campgrounds. They’re living in cars.”

Leahy said there is a misconception that new construction is going to be “cheap housing.”

“People say, ‘There goes the neighborhood,’” he said. “But this is not focusing on Section 8 or subsidized housing. This is for the service workers. In our community, Clatsop County’s median wage is 80 percent of the state of Oregon’s average. We know the struggles we have. We know this great economy is also increasing the rents we pay.”

The impact from vacation rentals has cut into the available long-term housing. Of the vacant rental stock, the city reported in a 2011 analysis, 76 percent are vacation, recreational or occasional use units.

“This segment of the market has a strong impact on housing development, availability and pricing in Seaside,” city staff wrote.

With so many people buying up property and making them second homes and vacation rentals, it’s taken away from the pool of long-term rentals for professionals and service workers.

“The economy is doing better, and if the economy is doing good, a lot of the people who own houses want to turn them into vacation homes as opposed to full-time rentals,” Morrisey said. “So a lot of those flipped and there’s not a lot of low-income housing.”

The 15-acre Blue Heron development at Avenue S and Wahanna stalled in 2006. 

The project had preliminary approval for 58 single-family homes. Developer Max Ritchie recently examined the possibility of a zoning change that would allow for multifamily units to provide workforce housing. City officials discouraged the idea, however, citing transportation issues, a lack of high-density zoning near the site and anticipated opposition from neighbors.

Another hurdle to development comes from the high fees for parks, sewer, stormwater, transportation and water levied by the city, about $9,000 per new unit.

“One of the reasons for the huge unmet need of workforce housing in Seaside is that the high cost of system development charges deters builders from taking on projects in the city,” Ritchie said. “With such a huge demand for housing, I think the city should enact a temporary waiver of system development fees to encourage builders to meet the housing need.”

City Councilor Jay Barber agreed that development fees can be a big barrier.

“By the time a builder pays those development fees, they can’t afford to do that. It doesn’t pencil out,” he said.

But if system development charges are reduced, the difference could be passed to taxpayers, Morrisey said.

“We’re not going to have Seaside residents subsidize development,” he added.

A report delivered to the city Planning Department early this year by Otak Inc., showed Seaside would need about 197 additional acres to satisfy the city’s 20-year projected population growth, estimated to jump from 6,500 in 2013 to more than 8,000 in 2030. Using revised forecasts, the amount was scaled back to 137.5 acres.

An urban growth boundary expansion would be needed to acquire that land, and officials are looking to the east of U.S. Highway 101.

Four areas are under consideration for expansion: the South Hills, the Lewis and Clark Hills, the North Hills and the East Hills.

The South Hills was found to yield the greatest amount of units per acre.

The East Hills was found to be the largest area for potential growth, “allowing for the widest range of potential housing types.”

Not everyone agrees on the need to expand. Oregon Coast Alliance Land Use Director Cameron LaFollette, who lives in Seaside, said earlier this year she was strongly opposed to expanding the city’s urban growth boundary.

“It’s clear that Seaside does not have the population increase or housing need for expansion,” LaFollette said. “There is a great need for affordable housing, but expanding the hills by 200 acres — not an area where affordable housing would go. It is much more likely to be developed into second homes.”

Urban specialist Mia Nelson of 1000 Friends of Oregon told the city in a 2015 letter that the housing need could actually decrease within the next 20 years. She advocated use of existing stock rather than new land for construction.

In April, the Seaside Planning Department postponed the urban growth boundary discussion until new 14-year population figures become available from the state next year.

The Planning Department does not have a list of affordable projects, according to officials, but a 26-unit apartment building onAvenue M is the only apartment project in development.

The City Council could consider the reduction or waiver of system development charges, like cities such as Portland, Grants Pass and Roseburg have done as an incentive.

“If there could be some kind of formula for discounted development fees for people who are dedicating at least a significant portion of a facility to low-income housing, that would be a big step forward,” Barber said.

Leahy said he hopes to bring more housing online by working with developers to form private and public partnerships, including incentivizing private development.

Clatsop Economic Development Resources seeks to “deal with perceptions and misconceptions” by bringing more residents into the discussion.

“Communities can be strengthened by providing housing affordable to all income levels,” Leahy said.