New short-term-rental moratorium in local areas

For the second time within a year, Summit County government has passed a short-term rental moratorium. The first three-month moratorium took effect last fall, and now this second nine-month moratorium, effective immediately, will put a pause on any licenses being issued within the county’s neighborhood zones.

The moratorium does have some exemptions, including people who are already under contract with a home and had planned to apply for a license. The county will also set up a process where community members can apply for a special exemption for other unique circumstances.

The decision to implement a moratorium came as a surprise to many community members, especially those in the local property management and real estate industries, many of whom attended the Summit Board of County Commissioners’ work session and regular meetings on Tuesday. During the morning work session, the commissioners heard a presentation from Summit County Senior Planner Jessica Potter, who reiterated the current trajectory for shortterm license applications so far this year.

A few weeks ago, Potter told the commissioners during a work session meeting on May 3 that the county’s new short-term rental program was not deterring the number of license applications, especially its Type 2 licenses. These particular licenses are for neighborhood zones — or areas that are traditionally occupied. The new regulations passed in December capped the number of nights these units could be rented out at 135 per year.

The presentation earlier this month showed projections for the rest of the year, and the commissioners heard these numbers again during Tuesday’s work session meeting. Later that day, they held a vote on a nine-month moratorium for short-term rental licenses in neighborhood zones.

During the commissioners’ regular meeting that afternoon, up to 115 community members turned in virtually and another 40-50 community members attended in person. Potter explained why the county was voting on such a measure. That included the following: 60% of short-term rentals approved in 2022 have been in neighborhood zones; in the second half of 2021, 39% of home sales resulted in a short-term rental license, which is up from the second half of 2020; and 90% of all short-term rentals are owned by someone who lives outside of Summit County.

After Potter’s presentation, 23 speakers voiced their discontent — and, at times, anger — with the commissioners.

At least four individuals called the vote a “knee-jerk reaction.” Many speakers expressed their surprise that the county was taking up a vote so suddenly. A couple more asked that the commissioners prolong their vote until after the summer season, which is typically when the local real estate market sees the most transactions out of the year.

“Give us a chance to earn a living,” said Karen Mapes, Breckenridge resident and real estate agent for Re/ Max Properties of the Summit.

A couple of others pointed out that the new regulations had just been imposed last December, and they questioned whether or not the county had enough reliable data to make their decision. Other comments at the meeting included concern how this moratorium might impact locals working in positions such as housekeepers, landscapers or maintenance workers.

At the end of the public comment period, some of the commissioners, as well as Potter, answered some of these concerns. Potter said that when the county implemented its three-month short-term rental moratorium last year, it received 172 license applications within a matter of days. The tight turnaround for this moratorium is to keep that from happening again.

Both Summit County Commissioners Josh Blanchard and Elisabeth Lawrence said the board was not “anti-strs” and that they knew the county needed short-term rentals to support its tourist population. Even so, both expressed their desire to balance this industry’s needs with the needs of the rest of the community.