Short-Term and Vacation Rentals undergoing rule changes

The complexity of the issues and passion of public opinion, both pros and cons, regarding regulation of Short-Term and Vacation Rentals were on full display Wednesday, Sept. 20, at the Boulder County Planning Commission hearing. After three hours of staff presentation, commissioners’ questioning and public comment, the Commission opted for more time and more information before advancing its recommendations for changes to the current regulations, if any, to the Boulder County Commissioners.

The five members of the Planning Commission who participated in the public meeting sent Community Planning & Permitting (CPP) staff away after the meeting with several requests for additional information and potential revisions to the staff’s draft proposal. The commission will resume its deliberations at its next regularly scheduled meeting, Wednesday, Oct. 18, at the downtown Boulder County Courthouse, 3rd Floor, 1325 Pearl Street in Boulder at 1:30 p.m.

Participating in the hearing were commissioners Gavin McMillan (chair), George Gerstle, Ann Goldfarb, Rachel Medaugh, and Chris Whitney. The CPP staff’s proposed amendments to Article 4 of the Boulder County Land Use Code and updates to the Licensing Ordinance regulating Short-Term and Vacation Rental uses were presented by Ethan Abner, Long Range Planning & Policy Team Planner.

Abner previously presented the findings from the Short-Term and Vacation Rental Two-Year Review to the County Commissioners in January. After receiving that report, the County Commissioners directed the CPP staff to draft proposed amendments to existing regulations and updates to the licensing ordinances. The drafting process included working sessions with the commissioners and Planning Commission members as well as two in-person and one virtual community input sessions. The resulting proposals were presented to the Planning Commission on Wednesday.

Any code changes would only affect Boulder County’s unincorporated areas, which include the rural, mountain and plains communities, such as Niwot and Gunbarrel, and not incorporated cities such as Boulder and Longmont.

In the current regulations, which were originally created in 2008 and updated in 2020, three rental types are defined – Primary Dwelling Short-Term Rentals, Secondary Dwelling Short-Term Rentals, and Vacation Rentals. In the proposed changes that number would be reduced to two types – Short-Term Rentals and Vacation Rentals.

Vacation Rentals would be redefined as “a single-family dwelling unit that offers transient lodging accommodations to a single booking party at a time within that dwelling unit for a rental duration of fewer than 30 days where the entire unit is solely occupied by the rental party during the duration of the rental period.” Approved Vacation Rentals could be rented for up to 365 days per year.

Other major proposed changes for Vacation Rentals include requiring a two-night minimum stay to reduce turnover and neighborhood impact; changing parking requirements to two on-site spaces, or one space per every four approved occupants, whichever is fewer; and allowing Vacation Rentals only in Forestry and Mountain Institutional zoning districts, which are all found in the Upper St. Vrain and Bald Mountain Census County Divisions (CCDs).

This last proposal would preclude Vacation Rental licenses from being permitted in the unincorporated Plains area of the county which comprises the remaining Boulder, Longmont and Lafayette/Louisville CCDs -- effectively all areas of the county east of the mountains, including Niwot and Gunbarrel.

The new proposed Short-Term Rental definition would change the owner-occupancy guidelines currently in use to differentiate between Primary and Secondary STRs and establish one standard where the dwelling unit is the primary residence of either the owner or tenant (occupies dwelling for more than 30 days) and the owner or tenant is present during the duration of the rental period (fewer than 30 days). There would be an exception for up to 30 nights per year that the owner or tenant would not be required to be present during the rental period.

The requirements for proof of primary residence would change to the dwelling unit in which a person lives for more than nine months out of each calendar year. The current requirement is six months. Proof of residency would be eased to presenting a Colorado state-issued driver’s license or identification card along with a sworn Statement of Primary Residence.

The combination of eliminating Vacation Rentals in the Plains areas and the strict requirements that Short-Term Rentals be limited to primary residences where the owner or tenant occupies the home nine months of the year and is present for the rental period for all but 30 nights per year left commissioners wondering what happens to existing licensees in the Plains who don’t meet the STR guidelines and won’t have an option of converting to a Vacation Rental license. Abner admitted the staff had not fully developed a plan for addressing that issue. Commissioners requested the staff present options for those existing licensees and for a review process for new applicants in the districts not included in the draft proposal.

The CPP staff also evaluated ways to reduce stress on the available housing stock and overall neighborhood impact and proposed limiting the number of Vacation Rental licenses permitted. There would be no limit set on Short-Term Rental licenses. The Vacation Rental limit would be set at a 3.5 percent cap on the total housing units within the Upper St. Vrain CCD and the Bald Mountain CCD. That guidance would cap the number of Vacation Rental licenses in the Upper St. Vrain at 169, and only 73 licenses in the Bald Mountain CCD.

Again, with changes in the STR residency requirements, Abner predicted that some current STR licensees would likely choose to apply for the limited Vacation Rental licenses. However, he also admitted that those new licenses could quickly consume the cap numbers, especially in the Bald Mountain region. All additional applications would be placed on a waiting list. The commissioners again requested more information on a process to handle the existing licensees.

The commissioners also requested more information on the impact of Short-Term and Vacation rentals on private access roads. During his public comments, Phil Stern of Allenspark outlined the impact that even one short-term rental can have on a mountain road through increased automobile and foot traffic, which can also lead to potential issues of trespassing, he said. Stern reminded the commissioners that when damage to a private road occurs, it is not up to the county to make repairs, it is up to the homeowners -- in his example, all but one of which do not collect any income or tax money from the renters.

The commissioners referred the issue to staff for comment at the October meeting.