Dear Editor,

In January 2023, the County Commissioners directed County Permitting & Planning (CP&P) staff to simplify the current Short-Term Rental (STR) licensing regulations. The Commissioners suggested CP&P streamline the lengthy, expensive, and confusing STR licensing process. The Commissioners DID NOT suggest that CP&P severely restrict the County’s approximately 250 STRs (a mere 1% of the County’s 20,000 dwellings). CP&P, however, decided to decimate STRs.

Without any evidence, CP&P believes that when STRs are prohibited, residents will instead offer their homes as affordable housing. Regulations, however, cannot be based on wishful thinking or suppositions, and CP&P never provided any evidence that 250 STRs impact affordable housing. Instead, the proposed regulations appear to be based on “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) complaints.

A review of the more severe proposed regulations reveals CP&P’s intent to decimate STRs. For example:

Vacation Rentals Would be Prohibited in All But Two Zoning Districts. Vacation Rentals (rentals of secondary dwellings) would be prohibited in Agricultural, Rural Residential, Business, Commercial, Light Industrial, and General Industrial districts, and would be allowed only in the Forestry and Mountain Industrial zones. Without any evidence, CP&P suggests this drastic prohibition will cause owners to offer their secondary dwellings as affordable housing.

Owners Would be Required to Occupy Their Primary Residence During Rentals. To appease NIMBY concerns, CP&P would require homeowners (or long-term tenants) to be present during rentals of their primary residence. This regulation essentially eliminates primary residence STRs. Few homeowners, especially those with families or long-term tenants, will want to share family living quarters with strangers. Remarkably, cities that allow ONLY primary residence STRs, such as the City of Boulder (300 licensed STRs) and Denver (thousands of licensed STRs) do not require owner occupancy during the rental.

Owners Claiming Primary Residence Status Must Occupy Their Residence for Nine Months Instead of the Current Six Months. CP&P offers no reason how this NIMBY-based change “preserves housing stock.” The City of Boulder more reasonably defines principal residence as “the dwelling unit in which a person resides for more than one-half of the year, . . . unless the entire unit is offered and available for rental more than twenty days in any month.”

All Visitors to Rented Dwellings are Prohibited. The occupancy of an STR is limited by the capacity of the septic system. CP&P proposes to limit STR occupancy to “the total number of persons who may be at the premises at any one time while the unit is offered for rental.” This regulation means that a family of four vacationing in an STR in Boulder County with a four person occupancy limit (including children) cannot invite friends or relatives for a visit! This proposed regulation, again based on NIMBY complaints, certainly does not “preserve housing stock” and is stunning in its bias against tourism, family, and friendship.

CP&P Would Impose STR Licensing Caps. Although the Commissioners specifically told CP&P that licensing caps are “off the table,” CP&P strongly presses governing officials to adopt caps. CP&P would divide the County into thirds and impose caps on each third. One third is the entire eastern half of the County which is capped at 10-15 licenses. The western half of the County is divided into north/south halves. The northern half (Allenspark area) is allowed 163 licenses and the southern half (Nederland area) is allowed 73 licenses. Although CP&P acknowledged that research shows caps are effective when 4% of dwellings are STRs, it insists on caps even while acknowledging that the County’s STRs are only 1% of the total dwellings. The County’s official mandate is to “help small businesses thrive within the context of existing community character and infrastructure, as these businesses are important contributors to regional economic vitality.” EC 3.03. CP&P entirely ignores this mandate and the significant impact the caps will have on the vitality and survival of rural communities.

The County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed regulations on January 9, 2024, at 1 p.m. The Commissioners invite written comments and in-person or zoom appearances.

For more information, go to DC-23-0001: Text Amendments to the Land Use Code related to Short- Term Dwelling and Vacation Rentals - Boulder County.

Ilona Dotterrer

Boulder County