The Boulder County Planning Commission conditionally approved recommending to the Boulder County Commission a Special Use Review (SUR) to permit a vacation rental at 1975 Caribou Road west of Nederland during a regular, virtual meeting at 1:30 p.m. on January 19, 2022.

Applicant and Owner Roxanne di Santo requested the SUR to permit the vacation rental on a 1.3-acre property up to 365 nights per year, with a two-night minimum stay for a maximum of six guests. This property is located about two miles west of the intersection of Caribou Road and State Highway 72 in the Forestry Zoning District.

Staff Planner Samuel Walker introduced the request and said with the proposed conditions, staff finds the request can meet the special review criteria and recommended the Planning Commission advise conditional approval to the Board of County Commissioners.

On December 3, 2020, the Board of County Commissioners conditionally approved a short-term dwelling rental and bed and breakfast update, which removed the previous lodging term of short-term dwelling rental, and replaced it with three short-term rental categories, including Vacation Rental.

Under the newly adopted Code provisions, Special Review approval is required to establish a vacation rental on unsubdivided property within the Forestry Zoning District that is less than five acres in size. The subject property is an approximately 1.3-acre unsubdivided building lot with an existing 1,267-square-foot residence and two unpermitted sheds.

The property is accessed via Caribou Road, a Boulder County-owned and maintained right-of-way. No physical changes to the lot are proposed.

The Boulder County Comprehensive Plan identifies several important resources on or near the subject property, including riparian areas, significant natural communities, and the Indian Peaks Environmental Conservation Area, along with a View Protection Score of 2.62 assigned to Caribou Road in the area of the property.

The riparian area is along the south, and the property slopes downward with a flat area where the cabin is located. It is surrounded by U.S. Forest Service land and a Boulder County conservation easement to the northeast.

Applicant Roxanne di Santo stated that there will be many days when the house will not be rented. The house has two sleeping rooms and a rollaway in the living room. They have space for three vehicles and six people to sleep.

Di Santo lives at the Caribou Road house part-time, but it is her primary residence. She also has other properties in Eldora and Utah. It has been her primary residence for 24 years; she rents it both long-term and short-term. She has about a 50 percent to 75 percent occupancy rate.

The whole time she has owned the home, the use has been residential, and she is perplexed by the ordinance because, no matter who is in the house, the use is always the same. Short term renters will stay for 30 days and during the recent fires people would come to stay.

She offered her home to those who lost their homes in the Marshall Fire. “Nothing I’m asking for is out of character with the neighborhood,” Di Santo said.

The road by her house leads to the Cardinal mine, and the road is public property. Guests are not trespassing if they wander up the road. When not there personally, she has neighbors who keep watch and a manager. There is no impact like that of a lodge or motel, so she is striving to correct the record.

According to staff, due to septic system requirements and parking regulations, the applicant should be approved for one parking space for each sleeping room, so with two bedrooms and a living room, she would need four parking spaces. The septic system is only for four people, so as conditions of approval, they will be limited to sleeping in the two bedrooms and not in the living room.

Overall, the criteria can be met. Staff has no concerns for fire protection and it won’t create any traffic hazard. Staff recommend that the Planning Commission advise conditionally approving the di Santo vacation rental with 10 conditions. These include, among others, that prior to the issuance of a vacation rental license, the unpermitted sheds must be deconstructed or otherwise removed from the property. The vacation rental is limited to a maximum occupancy of four individuals, including children, and the approved number of sleeping rooms is two, including the main level bedroom and the upstairs master bedroom. The living room is not to be used as a sleeping room.

All guests must park on-site. No parking is allowed along Caribou Road.

The Board voted to recommend approval to the Boulder County Commission for the vacation rental with the 10 conditions.

The Planning Commission usually meets on the third Wednesday of each month. The next meeting will be on February 16, 2022. The Planning Commission meetings are being conducted using Zoom. View https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us for help using Zoom. For assistance in joining meetings, please email cpptechsupport@bouldercounty.org or call 720-564-2619.