Lifelong best friends Taylor Avritt and Danny Burgan are bringing a new form of transportation to town.
“Sunsetscootersmz,” an eco-friendly scooter rental company, allows customers to scoot around Manzanita and take in the sights.
“We believe that this is something that serves the community, both the people that live here and the people that visit,” Avritt said.
Avritt and Burgan came up with the idea after riding EScooters in larger cities. On a trip back to the Manzanita, Burgan noticed the lack of mobility services at the beach and Avritt pitched the idea of bringing EScooters to the area.
“I thought it was genius,” Burgan said. “We grew up here; it’s our community and there’s not a better place to implement this. There’s so many parts of the city that you don’t see all the time. What we always like to tell people is to take some of the backstreets and check out the new houses or the state park; just go down avenues you’ve never been before.”
Sunsetscootersmz is located in the parking lot of the Neah-Kah-Nie Bistro on Laneda Avenue.
“Our friend, Eisha Hopper, who owns the Neah-Kah-Nie Bistro, has been so generous of us using the space,” Burgan said. “He’s on board with our plan. They supply us with power and storage.”
Customers can rent from the eight available scooters in the Sunsetscootersmz fleet.
“You rent them for a certain amount of time and then you bring them back,” Burgan said. “Unlike other cities, we didn’t want them just left lying around. We really wanted to make sure that wasn’t our business model.”
Riders can take the scooters out for as little as 30 minutes or up to overnight rentals that come with a charger.
“The renter can incorporate the scooter into their stay at the beach,” Avritt said.
Each rental comes with a helmet and a quick introductory lesson in the parking lot before riders are on their way.
Since the business opened on August 1, the co-owners have reported receiving nothing but “interested eyes and smiles.”
“We’re really excited that the City of Manzanita, with their forward thinking, is allowing us to do this,” Burgan said. “We’re really, really thankful for the City of Manzanita.”
Weather permitting, Sunsetscootersmz is open seven days a week, from 10 am to close (when all scooters are rented out). Reservations can be made by emailing [email protected]. Residents of the “three villages” (Manzanita, Nehalem, and Wheeler) can also inquire about a locals discount.
Stay up-to-date with Sunsetscootersmz on their Instagram and Facebook pages.
