It has been nearly six months since Breckenridge Town Council decided to put a pause on short-term rental licenses in the town, and the conversation about how to handle them going forward continues.
The Tourism Overlay District Task Force was given the task of finding out ways to handle increases in short-term rentals, and on Tuesday community development director Mark Truckey presented those to the council for discussion. In February the Task Force divided the town into 3 zones: Zone 1, Zone 2 and Zone 3.
“Overall, I think task force generally agreed on the overall goal is allowing some additional licensing in Zone 1, and in zone 2 and 3, we wouldn’t be encouraging additional licensing,” Truckey said.
Zone 1 is focused on neighborhoods and homes near the ski area. It includes much of the west and south sides of town, Main Street Station and areas near Columbine Road. In this area, according to the task force, approximately 78% of homes in this zone hold short-term rental licensing. Because this zone has a higher rate of short-term rentals than the other zones, the task force has recommended that this percentage be allowed to increase to 80% of all units in Zone 1, an increase of about 64 licenses. Currently, there are 3,144 short-term units in this zone.
Zone 2 primarily encompasses the downtown area of Breckenridge. It is the smallest of the three and includes Main Street, North and South Ridge Streets and the Upper Warrior’s Mark area. According to the task force, this zone has less short-term licenses than Zone 1 but still more than Zone 3.
Zone 3 consists mainly of neighborhoods with long-term rentals or homeowners. This zone has the least amount of licenses, but in recent years has seen an increase, which the task force has determined to be detrimental to historical neighborhoods of Breckenridge. The goal of this zone is to decrease the amount of short-term rentals in this area. Right now, there are 960 licenses and to get down to the task force’s 10% goal, the zone would have to lose over 600 licenses, which town manager Rick Holman said could take upwards of 20 years, if it happens at all.
