NO ON HB 583: Preserve local control and community

The last decade our limited hotel capacity led to an unregulated explosion of Short-Term Rentals (STRs) particularly within our historic districts: Fort Grounds, Garden District & Midtown. While hundreds of hotel keys are entering the market, our housing stock has not recovered. Instead, we see a permanent loss of long-term rentals as they are converted into STRs, often under absentee ownership. Our city is a sprawling hotel.

I fully respect Idaho’s commitment to private property rights and limited government. However, the principle of “Don’t Tread on Me” is a two-way street. A resident’s right to a stable neighborhood is just as valid as an owner’s right to rent a house to guests.

When 12-hour-shift hospital workers commute an hour or when an elderly resident slips on ice surrounded by empty winter STRs, our social fabric begins to fray. Simultaneously our public schools — funded by attendance headcounts — are being starved of the very families that make a community whole.

While STRs may improve a home’s exterior and possibly life safety issues, they often hollow out the interior life of a neighborhood. The workers who can least afford a commute are being pushed out, while our streets are treated as “hotel parking” for visitors who have no stake in our long-term civic health.

We need to balance the demands of visitors with the rights of residents while safeguarding what makes Coeur d’Alene worth visiting in the first place.

LYNN FLEMING

P&Z Council Member

Coeur d’Alene