Breckenridge town staff estimates that there are more than 100 residences in town where a room or lock-off unit is rented out short-term, and the town council plans to do something about it.
Community Development Director Mark Truckey explained during a Breckenridge Town Council work session Tuesday, Feb. 23, that the town planning commission is concerned about an increasing number of short-term rental units in town. He explained that new single-family residential proposals include areas that easily could be converted into lock-off apartments, potentially creating a second short-term rental unit on the property.
Currently, town code says that if a lock-off apartment includes a separate kitchen, it must be deed restricted as an accessory dwelling unit to someone who works at least 30 hours per week in the county.
“You’re never going to be able to work your way out of this problem with code because people will always build something and then work their way around it,” Mamula said. “What we need to do is start flagging some of these new homes in some new categories so they cannot get a license to rent. I think somewhere in there is a potential legal way for us to prohibit this kind of thing from becoming an issue.”
Mamula said that unless homeowners rent the entire home, they shouldn’t be allowed to short-term rent units of a new home. Town Manager Rick Holman said the town estimates there are more than 100 incidences in town of homeowners renting out a room or lock-off unit short-term. Mamula noted that prior to services like Airbnb and VRBO, these types of rental units went to the local workforce. He said the units now go to short-term renters because it is more profitable.
