Beach Community Successfully Regulates Vacation Rental Properties

The City of Lincoln City, Oregon is a family-friendly beach community perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean in central Oregon with 7 miles of coastline and ~9,000 year-round residents.

Incorporated in 1965, the City has more recently focused its attention on Code Enforcement as property values have risen and Vacation Rental Properties have grown in popularity.

I sat down with Craig Grabenhorst, Code Enforcement Officer and Weston Fritz, Assistant Planner to learn more about the City’s Code Enforcement journey.

What problem was Lincoln City trying to solve with Code Enforcement software?

Craig Grabenhorst

The Code Enforcement department never had an electronic record-keeping system. It was all paper-based and stored in a file cabinet. Of course, it wasn't searchable and there was no possible way of generating reports.

Craig Grabenhorst, Code Enforcement Officer, City of Lincoln City, OR

The City council started asking the City Manager questions like "How busy is Code?" "What kinds of issues are they tackling?" "How many cases are self-generated?" really basic information. I used to throw everything into a cardboard box and sort through cases by hand.

Our process at the time just made it impossible to track most of the data council was interested in.

Weston Fritz

From a staff perspective, managing my caseload was tough using Excel, Outlook, and Word. Our make-do solution made it hard to track and follow up on cases consistently. Another challenge was the lack of visibility into what Code Enforcement was working on.

Weston Fritz, Assistant Planner, City of Lincoln City, OR

Some of the things we deal with may take six weeks to resolve. Because of that, there's often a perception that nothing is happening and the reality is that we've been working on it the entire time. Now my boss can go into Comcate and see exactly what I've done and when. Lincoln City was ready for 21st-century Code Enforcement tools.

What changed in Lincoln City?

Craig Grabenhorst

I retired from Lincoln City as a police officer after 26 years of service to become the Code Enforcement officer reporting to the Police Chief. I went from a police department that's very big on record keeping and reporting to almost nothing.

It was breathtaking. I immediately started hounding the Chief for better tools and it took about a year and a half to get the go-ahead to explore case management software.

Weston Fritz

Property values are going up and tourism is on the rise which means that more folks care about Lincoln City's aesthetics. We're growing and that comes with some challenges. Most of the time residents don't even know they're violating ordinances until we show up. Education is an important part of the job.

The Roads End section of Lincoln City is popular with short-term renters and owners of Vacation Rental Properties. (photo credit: oregoncoast.org)

Why did Code Enforcement become a council priority in 2020?

Craig Grabenhorst

The regulation of Vacation Rental Properties was a major factor. In 2012, the City annexed a 246-acre area of the County called Roads End along the Oregon coast. Before the annexation, a lot of homes were built as investment rental properties and went largely unregulated.

Although great for vacationers and investors, residents weren't so happy. Every weekend fun-seeking renters flooded into Roads End bringing their loud music, occasional fights, parking problems, and overflowing garbage cans. The situation has caused some hard feelings.

Can residents report issues online now?

Craig Grabenhorst

Yes, they can. And now with Comcate, we receive so much more useful information beyond name and location. We get the exact location of an issue, images, description, date, category, name, and email address.

The new software is also mobile-friendly and lets folks submit anonymously if they want to. Other issues we're tackling include noxious vegetation, which is a wildfire hazard, junk being stored outside, trash, and abandoned vehicles.

The City of Lincoln City makes it easy for residents to find their own answers and to report issues or ask questions via the City's Code Enforcement Portal powered by Comcate's Code Enforcement Manager software.

How long did it take you to document a Code Enforcement case before Comcate?

Craig Grabenhorst

At a minimum an hour between pulling information in from the mapping software, organizing and printing photos, and then writing my case report in a Word document. And that's without interruptions which could stretch that out even longer. It was not a fun thing. Now it takes minutes and I can spend more time out of the office and in the community getting more accomplished.

Lincoln City is still new to Comcate. What are your hopes for the software?

Craig Grabenhorst

We need to do a better job of educating the public to report issues themselves via the City's website. It's so much easier for residents and we get the information we need to enforce code faster without any back and forth. I'm still getting voicemails that say, "Hey, somebody parked their truck in front of my house. Can you come look at it now?” Number one, you didn't tell me where to go, so now I have to call you back and, ask the obvious questions.

Weston Fritz

I'm hoping with the reporting that we're getting out of Comcate that the Code Enforcement conversation will shift from being subjective to being objective. Then we'll be able to better set goals and priorities grounded in data. I'm sure that we'll get there in time. Comcate is still new to us.

What was your software selection process like?

Craig Grabenhorst

In Oregon, we have a Code Enforcement association. I put my feelers out and asked the crowd for Code Enforcement software recommendations and I mostly got back what not to use. "The software we use is hot garbage, stay away from it," were a third of the responses I got.

The next third told me that they had a solution that didn't work very well but it's what they had so they made the best of it. The last third recommended Comcate. Then I found out that Lincoln County uses Comcate. So I reached out to the local Code Enforcement guy there. He had nothing but good things to say and that got the ball rolling.

Who was on the decision-making committee?

Craig Grabenhorst

The Chief, the planning person at the time, and our dispatch supervisor sat in on the presentations and were impressed. Every question they had was answered by Comcate. It was just obvious that Comcate was going to work for us.

The Chief loves the reports and graphs along with the ability to pull the stats he needs. He's big on answering questions and wants to be able to answer them correctly. For example, he can pull up Comcate during a council meeting and answer questions on the fly.

How did your implementation go?

Craig Grabenhorst

I was pleasantly surprised by how fast the project spooled up. Each week our Comcate implementation manager, Kolten, made it clear what our tasks were and before we knew it we were flipping the switch to go live. I was surprised by how fast it went.

Weston Fritz

I think Kolten did a really good job. I liked working with him and he's just really on it. The pace was also good for an organization like ours that has been paper-based for 20 years and now needs to break our processes down so they can be automated.

What advice do you have for Code Enforcement agencies considering new software?

Craig Grabenhorst

I've already suggested Comcate to a couple of agencies looking for software because you're head and shoulders above the rest. Surely look around, but Comcate is a great place to start because it solves the problem. It's not software that you have to make work and live with it. It was designed around Code Enforcement.

Weston Fritz

If you're in a municipality where Code Enforcement hasn't been a priority, and now it is, I'd recommend leading with education, courtesy notices, and grace periods. I'd also embrace technology as a tool and spend the extra time to set it up properly. It'll make it easier for you going forward.