Despite an overwhelming amount of public comment pushing back against the move, the commissioners approved the measure.
The meeting was held both virtually and in-person, and the public was allowed to comment through either means. At one point, nearly 100 attendees were tuned in via Zoom, and close to 30 members of the public visited in person.
Most of the commentators voiced their skepticism that the moratorium wouldn’t produce the results that the county desired, and some, such as Meredith and Jason Adams, of Mountain Living Real Estate, and Adam Parker, owner of property management firm Summit Luxury, declared that they didn’t think the county should have the authority to make these kinds of decisions.
“I’d like to point out the obvious,” said Adams. “Today, I’ve heard a lot of really good, thoughtful statements, and I think the overwhelming majority of them are not interested in this moratorium or don’t believe that it is the right course of action. I think that’s what I want to point out — that I understand there’s a problem here, but I really think short-term rentals are just the easy villain in this picture and that this moratorium is really not solving the problem.”
Parker acknowledged that the county and similar areas like Vail have affordable housing issues but said he believes targeting short-term rentals isn’t the answer.
“We don’t want to challenge the very nature of resort towns, which are visitors, because of a culturally common issue,” he said.
Some commentators didn’t think this measure would be successful in part because of how some use their units. Owners of short-term rental units usually purchase their properties because they’d like to use them throughout the year. If they aren’t able to rent the properties out, many of them will sit vacant.
Other commentators, such as Boulder resident Katie Davis and Karen Frisone, managing broker and owner of K.O. Real Estate in Denver, noted that some people purchase their units and short-term rent them out to help pay for their mortgage and bills.
“I have some clients right now who are actively trying to negotiate a contract on a property in unincorporated Breckenridge,” Frisone said. “It’s a multimillion-dollar property, and the lower unit is a short-term rental that they would consider using for passive income, and maybe long-term, but mostly they want to use it as a family. How you vote today is whether or not they decide to move to this area.”
To that, Lawrence said she does not think it is appropriate that the county insert itself into these matters. So just what does Lawrence think the commissioners are doing with this new rule? They ARE inserting themselves into these matters.
https://www.summitdaily.com/news/local/despite-an-overwhelming-amount-of-pushback-summit-county-commissioners-approve-a-temporary-short-term-rental-license-moratorium/
