HOUSING: Yep, it’s a crisis

Here’s a thought: Our homes everywhere, especially in desirable areas (downtown Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, river properties, Post Falls, lake homes) are being bought up by outsiders who are turning them into vacation rentals. So our neighborhoods are no longer “neighborhoods,” they are a constant change of people coming and going, which leaves NO rental properties for locals, or people wanting to move here.

City councils from all cities need to look at how many permits you have issued for VR (vacation rental), and that may answer the question of why we’re in an affordable housing crisis. We have a VR, in a studio apartment, but we live here! So I understand why people are doing it, but we are neighbors, here year-round. If you don’t believe me, pull up vacation rentals in any area. We have four on our block.

You can’t do anything about what you have already done, but you can enact a moratorium for the future. We will be just like Tahoe and Sun Valley, no rentals for locals, just catering to tourists!

JAN MARIE

Coeur d’Alene