Way cleared for short-term ban on short-term rentals

Golden probably will be the next community in Colorado to lay down rules for how homeowners can rent out space to those paying the city a quick visit, a move that comes amid an explosion in the listing of short-term rentals across the state.

The Golden City Council on Thursday gave initial approval to a six-month moratorium on applications for new short-term rentals in the city — effectively putting in place a time-out that the city hopes to use to come up with regulations that balance residents’ desires to generate rental income with neighbors’ fears their block could become a magnet for itinerant travelers.

“There are individuals who would like to do short-term rentals, but the city doesn’t allow it,” said Councilman Casey Brown. “Golden is an extremely attractive location for these types of rentals.”

To be fair, Golden does issue old-school “tourist home” permits to residents in certain parts of the city who want to rent out a room in their homes for short stays — typically 30 days or less. But Golden’s code never contemplated the volume of business and turnover that is generated by popular websites such as Airbnb and VRBO.

According to Airbnb, Colorado homeowners who rented their properties last year through the company’s website earned a combined $183 million from 1.2 million guests — a 68 percent jump in the number of guests from the previous year.

While the highest number of rentals are happening in the Front Range’s big cities — including Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs — mountain resort towns are well represented in Airbnb’s top 10 list, with Breckenridge, Silverthorne, Steamboat Springs, Keystone and Vail bringing in nearly 200,000 guests combined last year.

Despite Golden’s official ban on short-term rentals, it doesn’t take a long look on various online rental sites to find plenty of people in the city offering space for rent. That has led to worries about the health and safety of guests and residents, preservation of neighborhood character, disputes over parking and forfeited tax revenues for municipalities.

Golden’s planning manager, Rick Muriby, said it makes sense for the city of nearly 21,000 to take the time to draft clear regulations on short-term rentals to ensure everyone is playing by the same rules.

“Hopefully, when we get a legal framework in place, people can come in and be compliant with the code,” he said. “Cities have to understand what’s going on and have something in place.”

Muriby doesn’t deny that potential tax revenues from short-term rentals is of interest to the city. Last year, Denver’s 10.75 percent lodger’s tax netted the city $2 million from short-term rentals — a figure that’s expected to rise.

“That’s on the list of things to discuss,” he said.

Golden looked at shortterm-rental ordinances in Fort Collins, Boulder and Denver to help generate ideas for making its own. Muriby said the city likely will borrow a stipulation in Denver’s rules, which were passed in 2016, that shortterm rentals only be allowed at primary residences — not at second homes or investment properties.

Dan Rowland, spokesman for Denver’s licensing department, said the city has issued 2,300 short-term rental licenses since its rules went into effect at the beginning of 2017. He said the city has hit a 68 percent compliance rate among those renting space.

“We track and monitor via complaints, 311, the website and our compliance software,” Rowland said Thursday. “Violators get a notice and two weeks to fix it, then there’s an administrative citation.”

Some of Golden’s more immediate neighbors have taken action on short-term rentals — or will soon. Wheat Ridge plans to take up the issue this year while Edgewater just drafted rules that city manager HJ Stalf will “severely” limit opportunities for shortterm rentals in the tiny city on the shores of Sloan’s Lake.

Brown, the Golden councilman, said he wants to give residents a chance to make some cash on the property they own but not to the detriment of their neighbors or the city as a whole.

“The cost of housing has gone up so much that people are looking for a little income to help pay the mortgage,” Brown said.

The Golden City Council will take a final vote on the rental moratorium Feb. 8.