Eagle County is currently exploring Short-Term Rental (STR) regulations

What – if any – connection is there between short-term rentals and workforce housing? We know that housing for locals is a foundational challenge to our community and the livability of Eagle County. Studies including the Mountain Migration Report and Regional Workforce Housing Report have been conducted in recent years. Outside Magazine has a compelling article titled “How to Save a Ski Town” that frames the impacts of short-term rentals in ski town communities.

Eagle County officials are seeking public input on a proposed short-term rental (STR) licensing ordinance. We applaud the county for soliciting feedback from the community to determine the appropriate regulations for STRs in unincorporated Eagle County, and we encourage a thoughtful approach to any future regulations.

We are unabashed housing advocates. The Partnership has played an active role in advocating for new housing developments including Spring Creek Village (Gypsum), Hockett Gulch (Eagle), 6 West (Edwards), Belden Place (Minturn), Residences at Main Vail (Vail), and numerous others throughout the valley. We’ve hosted symposiums, workshops, and task forces to bring leaders together to help better understand the issues and challenges that exist in developing more resident-occupied housing inventory to support our community.

That said, STRs are not the root cause of all our housing challenges. There are many things to consider when developing government rules and regulations. As with most things, there are positives and negatives. At the Partnership, we believe the following goals should drive the STR regulation conversation:

• Retain long-term rental supply
• Protect the integrity and culture of residential neighborhoods
• Provide guests with a mix of accommodation options
• Respect the property rights of current and future STR owners

One relatively easy way to achieve these goals and the balance between private property rights and protecting residential neighborhoods would be to create a new County level housing zone district. This residential zoning would allow (and encourage) up-zoning for a currently zoned agricultural and resource-zoned property. This would have the benefit of ensuring that future planned unit development (PUD) up-zoning requests must include workforce housing.

Increased regulatory requirements at the county level make sense for residential neighborhoods (think most of Edwards or EagleVail, for example). These properties should be required to have local emergency contacts. They should be required to indicate on STR websites that the “rental is located in a residential neighborhood”. We should require a business license and STR license in unincorporated Eagle County, including fees to offset staff time, and we must enforce sales tax collection and enforcement for STR units.

With a new residential zoning district must come a new tourism zone district. When discussing STR regulations and ordinances, we must remember that purpose-built condominium hotels in Beaver Creek or Bachelor Gulch are not the same as a townhouse or duplexes in neighborhoods, and our tourism districts that help drive our economy should not be treated the same as our residential neighborhoods. A one size fits all blanket regulation for STRs that treats a ski-in/ski-out professionally managed units the same as a residential unit in a neighborhood is not the path forward.

Many communities have taken a more active role regarding short-term rentals. Local communities including Vail, Avon, and Minturn have taken active regulatory roles, and others regionally such as Steamboat and Summit County have taken steps to regulate STRs while managing the benefits and drawbacks.

Eagle County can create a thoughtful framework that balances private property rights and recognizes that our tourism areas are different from our residential areas. The opportunity exists to create model STR ordinances and I’m optimistic we will rise to meet the challenge.

Chris Romer is president & CEO of Vail Valley Partnership, the regional chamber of commerce. Learn more at VailValleyPartnership.com