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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.0 ApplicationGarfield County 1 Community Development Department 108 81h Street, Suite 401 Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 (970) 945-8212 www.garfield-county.com TYPE OF APPLICATION LAND USE CHANGE PERMIT APPLICATION FORM - ❑ Administrative Review ❑ Development in 100 -Year Floodplain • Limited Impact Review • Development in 100 -Year Floodplain Variance • Major Impact Review "' Code Text Amendment • Amendments to an Approved LUCP • Rezoning ❑ ■ LIR ['MIR • SUP ■ Zone District ■ PUD ■ PUD Amendment Minor Temporary Housing Facility_ ❑ Administrative Interpretation ❑ Vacation of a County Road/Public ROW 0 Appeal of Administrative Interpretation 0 Location and Extent Review • Areas and Activities of State Interest 0 Comprehensive Plan Amendment 0 Accommodation Pursuant to Fair Housing Act ❑ Pipeline Development 0 Variance ❑ Time Extension (also check type of original application) INVOLVED PARTIES Owner/Applicant Name: Garfield County Board of County Commissioners Phone: ( 970 ) 945-1377 Mailing Address: 108 8th Street city: Glenwood Springs E-mail: State: CO Zip Code: 81601 Representative (Authorization Required) Name: Fred Jarman, Community Development Director Phone: ( 970 ) 945-8212 Mailing Address: 108 8th Street, Suite 401 city: Glenwood Springs State: CO zip Code: 81601 E-mail: fjarman@garfield-county.com PROJECT NAME AND LOCATION Project Name: Short Term Rental of Residential Dwelling Units - Text Amendment Assessor's Parcel Number: Physical/Street Address: Legal Description: Zone District: Property Size (acres): PROJECT DESCRIPTION Existing Use: Short Term Rental of Residential Dwelling Units is currently prohibited throughout Garfield County Proposed Use (From Use Table 3.403): Amend Table 3-403 to allow Short Term Rentals Description of Project: Short Term Rental of Residential Dwelling Units is currently prohibited throughout Garfield County. This Text Amendment is to amend the Land Use and Development Code of 2013 to allow the rental of Short Term Residential Units as a Use -By -Right throughout Garfield County. This includes the creation of a new definition for the use as well as amending Table 3-403 REQUEST FOR WAIVERS Submission Requirements 0 The Applicant requesting a Waiver of Submission Requirements per Section 4-202. List: Section: Section: Section: Section: Waiver of Standards 0 The Applicant is requesting a Waiver of Standards per Section 4-118. List: Section: Section: Section: Section: have read the statements above and have provided the required attached information which is correct and accurate to the best f my knowledge. Signature of Property Owner rk �5 2-6r Date OFFICIAL USE ONLY File Number: ____-____ Fee Paid: $ MEMO TO: Application FROM: David Pesnichak, Senior Planner DATE: September 15, 2015 RE: ShortTerm Rental of Residential Dwelling Units On September 10, 2015 Staff presented the issues surrounding Short -Term Rentals to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) in a Work Session. This Work Session discussion was not a noticed public hearing. As a result of the discussion, the BOCC directed Staff to begin the process of amending the Land Use and Development Code (LUDC) to permit the short-term rental of residential dwelling units throughout the County as a Use -By -Right without Standards. 1 MEMO TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM: David Pesnichak, Senior Planner DATE: September 10, 2015 IRE: Short -Term Rental of Residential Dwelling Unita BACKGROUND Over the past several years, short-term rentals (aka vacation rentals) of residential housing units have become widely popular. With the advent of the "sharing economy", websites such as VRBO, FlipKey, Home Away, Craigslist and airbnb have expanded the choice of nightly accommodations available to visitors through the nightly rental of otherwise single-family or multi -family long-term dwelling units. While the nightly rental of residential properties has been occurring for years, it has been primarily limited to highly visible tourist destinations and the units have been managed by local companies. The sharing economy has democratized this market and has allowed property owners in less tourist oriented locations and with less resources available to pay a management company to rent their otherwise typically unused properties to visitors on a nightly basis. Such democratization and a "sharing" of resources possess new challenges from a governmental and community perspective, however. The Garfield County Land Use and Development Code (LUDC) currently does not contemplate the use of short-term rentals. The closest use that is identified in the LUDC is a Lodging Facility. A Lodging Facility is defined as follows: An accommodation for a temporary stay that includes, but is not limited to, a resort lodge, guest ranch, overnight shelter, mote!, hotel, boarding house, and bed and breakfast establishment. Lodging Facilities exclude seasonal or Temporary Employee Housing on premises; contracted employee housing off premises; seasonal rental of homes; and lock- outs, or portions of homes, consisting of 2 or fewer independent lodging units whether managed by a lodging management agency or not. The second sentence of the definition identifies uses that are excluded, which consists of "lock -outs, or portions of homes, consisting of 2 or fewer independent lodging units whether managed by a lodging management agency or not." This type of use, which would include a "short-term rental" of a residential property, is neither further defined nor an allowed use within the Code. In addition, this use is not specifically allowed within Section 3-403, Use Table. Division 4 of the LUDC states that "Development or use of a property for any other use not specifically allowed in the use table and approved under the appropriate process is prohibited." As a result, short-term rentals of residential properties is currently a prohibited use within unincorporated Garfield County. In 2011, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) commissioned a White Paper on "Short -Term Housing Restrictions". The definition of a Short -Term Rental within this paper is excerpted below. It is worth noting that while some websites facilitate the rental of individual rooms or even beds within residential units, 1 which also occurs throughout the County, this Memo and below definition addresses only the rental of an entire residential dwelling unit. The term "short-term rental housing" typically means a dwelling unit that is rented for a period of less than thirty consecutive days. In general, short term rental housing differs from bed & breakfasts, hotels, motels, and other 'lodging" uses by providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation. Although bed & breakfasts often are similar in appearance and location to many short-term rentals, they are distinguishable by the presence of the owner/operator onsite. Boarding houses differ from short-term rentals by having multiple rooms or units for rent and common kitchen and dining facilities that are shared by the occupants. Boarding houses also tend to be less transient than short-term rentals. Similarly, hotels and motels are distinguishable from short-term rentals by having separate entrances and an on-site management office. In some communities, short-term rental housing may be referred to as vacation rentals, transient rentals, or resort dwelling units. Although the exact number of residential units available for rent within unincorporated Garfield County is difficult to specifically identify, a search of just the above noted websites indicates that the number of units available for rent at some point during a given year number over one -hundred (100). The geographic distribution of these units is heavily weighted to the east end of the County with many inside the City of Glenwood Springs and the Town of Carbondale as well as throughout the unincorporated area. The number of units listed for rent west of New Castle drops significantly to near zero around Parachute and Battlement Mesa. While some of the impacts from short-term rentals are easy to understand, the NAR commissioned White Paper outlines some of the general impacts and ways in which communities across the country have tried to deal with these impacts. According to the Paper, there are five major impact areas jurisdictions attempt to address through regulation, as outlined below. - Protection of Neighborhood Environment - noise, late night parties, trespassing, increased traffic, and visitors generally not being neighborly. - Protection of Physical Characteristics — absentee property owners can be less attentive to routine maintenance such as painting, lawn maintenance, tree and shrub punning and trash removal. - Revenue — if the property owner does not obtain a State sales tax license, this can mean lost revenue for the County. - Fairer Competition with Licensed Lodging — it has been argued that a lack of regulation for short- term rentals results in unfair competition for hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts that must pay higher taxes and abide by more stringent site development and building codes. Protection of Renter Safety — while commercial establishments must be constructed to comply with the building code regulations for a hotel, residential units for rent are unlikely to have been built to such standards. As a result, health and safety concerns may be present in residential units which are rented like a commercial establishment. 2 Staff` has reviewed the land use codes and zoning ordinances of 26 jurisdictions throughout Colorado including all 6 municipalities within the County. A detailed summary of these findings is attached. Of the municipalities in Garfield County, only Glenwood Springs and New Castle address short term rentals while the use is generally undefined in Carbondale, Silt, Rifle and Parachute. The range of regulatory permissiveness among the jurisdictions surveyed generally corresponded with the major types of short-term rental restrictions outlined within the NAR White Paper. According to the Paper, there are four main types of restrictions, as outlined below. Prohibition—of the 26 jurisdictions reviewed by Staff, only one, the City of Boulder, has an outright prohibition on short-term rentals. And even in this case, the prohibition is only until the issue of taxation of the units can be brought to the voters. Although an example may exist, Staff found no cases in Colorado where a prohibition on short-term housing exists for any of the impacts outlined previously. Geographically -Based Restrictions — geographically -based restrictions were common among the jurisdictions reviewed by Staff. The vast majority of these restrictions only allowed short-term rentals in specific zone districts. The City of Glenwood Springs utilizes this form of restriction. Other examples include the use of an overlay zone in the Town of Avon and the use of a minimum lot size of one acre in Jefferson County. As a variation on geographically based restrictions, Boulder County employs a tiered review system based on lot size and the number of nights per year the unit is rented. Quantitative and Operational Restrictions — While quantitative limits were only found in the City of Durango, where short-term rentals are limited to one per street segment and a maximum number within certain zone districts, operational limits were the most common form of restriction. The NAR White Paper identifies 8 general areas of operational restriction found nationwide, 7 of the 8 were found among the Colorado jurisdictions that were reviewed. The observed operational restrictions are outlined below. o Maximum Occupancy Limits — occupancy limits were found in 6 of the 26 surveyed jurisdictions. These restrictions range from a simple numerical limit, such as Estes Park which limits occupancy to 8, to relying on the limits imposed by the building code, which is utilized by the City of Glenwood Springs. Other examples are San Miguel County which limits to 2 people per bedroom unless a greater occupancy is permitted by the Onsite Wastewater Treatment System (OWTS) or Boulder County which imposes a limit of 2 people per bedroom with a maximum of 8, unless approved by the director. o Rental Period Restrictions — rental period restrictions was not a common operational restriction. The Town of Telluride has the most notable rental period restrictions of the surveyed jurisdictions. The Town allows short-term rentals as a use -by -right in residential zone districts as long as the unit is rented no more than three times for a maximum of 30 days per year. o Parking Requirements — parking requirements were found in 8 of the 26 surveyed jurisdictions. The type of parking restrictions ranged from the location where tenants may park, such as the City of Glenwood Springs which prohibits parking on grass or sidewalks, 3 to a minimum number of parking spaces required. In the case of Estes Park, a restriction is employed that limits the number of cars that can be parked at a short-term rental unit to three and prohibits on -street parking. o Noise Level Limits — the most common method for jurisdictions to apply noise restrictions is to require the short-term rental units to abide by all State and local noise statutes and ordinances. The Town of Basalt has the most nuanced regulations prohibiting all amplified music or other outdoor devices after 10 PM. Other jurisdictions that have specific language related to noise are Colorado Springs, Grand County, the Town of Telluride and Lake County. • Required Posting — required posting was found in 5 of the 26 surveyed jurisdictions. While these postings are to be located within the residence to provide the visitor with information about the local laws and regulations, occupancy limits, trash collection, parking, etc., the City of Aspen also recommends an outdoor posting of the property which provides contact information for the local manager of the property. o Mandatory Designated Representative—the requirement for a designated representative located within the local area and available 24 -hours per day is common among the surveyed jurisdictions, including the City of Glenwood Springs. • Trash and Recycling Facility Storage—trash and recycling storage can be an issue for short- term rental units. This is because the timeframe for guests at the unit may not correspond with trash and recycling pick up days. As a result, trash and recycling can end up being stored outdoors for several days before it is picked up. In response, the Town of Ridgway, Town of Telluride, Lake County, and San Miguel County all require that garbage be stored in bear proof containers or a bear proof structure. Registration/Licensing Requirements — the primary theme among the regulations reviewed by Staff is the requirement for short-term rentals to obtain local and State sales tax licenses. For towns such as New Castle, Avon and Vail where no land use or zoning permits are issued for short- term rentals, the only requirement is that a sales -tax license be obtained with the State and town. Counties tended to be less concerned with sales tax collection than municipalities, which often have local lodging taxes. Boulder County, for instance, has one of the most extensive and nuanced land use review processes yet does not mention the collection of sales tax. Meanwhile, the City of Boulder has determined short-term rentals to be illegal until the issue a taxation can go on the ballot for popular vote. Beyond the application of the LUDC to short-term rentals, the building code possess an additional regulatory challenge. While the building code can adapt to short term rentals, certain items need to be addressed with each of the short term rental units. Specifically, the occupancy rate should not exceed the capacity rating for the unit as defined by the International Building Code (IBC) or the capacity of Onsite Wastewater Treatment System (OWTS). In addition, smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors need to be in place and operational and emergency egress doors, windows, stairs and routes need to meet the IBC requirements. Many communities have dealt with these issues by requiring posting of the occupancy limit, providing a checklist of the items that need to be maintained in the home (e.g. alarms), and some go as far as requiring an inspection of the home to ensure these building code issues are addressed. 4 Code enforcement related to these units are also a challenge due to variable use by different people over time. In addition, the units can be very quickly made available for rent or removed from the marketplace. Historically, the County has only pursued code enforcement in regard to these units if there is a complaint filed. For example, Staff has over the past two years received complaints and issued Notices of Violation (NOV) for four short term rentals of which one was located in Cheyln Acres and three where located in Elk Springs; a subdivision that prohibits short-term rentals in the covenants. Even as the popularity of these rental units have increased over the past 15 years, very few complaints have been filed with the County. REQUESTED DIRECTION TO STAFF Short-term rentals have existed for some time (15+ years) within Garfield County with few complaints received over this timeframe relative to the number of units available. However, as noted previously, since short-term rentals are not identified within the Land Use and Development Code and specifically Table 3- 403, Use Table, the use of residential structures for nightly rentals is currently not a legal or allowed use throughout unincorporated Garfield County. With the proliferation of short-term rental units, Staff would recommend clarifying the Code to clearly identify whether these units should remain prohibited, be considered By -Right, or otherwise require special review. Further, if special review is deemed necessary, the code amendments should identify the level of review, review standards, and whether there is any procedural variation between zone districts. Generally, Staff sees a few options for clarifying short-term rentals within the Code, which could include the following: - Prohibiting short-term rentals - Allowing short-term rentals as a By -Right use without Standards - Allowing short-term rentals as a By -Right use with Standards (structured similarly to Home Occupation/Business but with standards specific to short-term rentals) - Requiring a Land Use Change Permit for short-term rentals with an Administrative Review Should the Board wish to pursue clarifying and legitimizing short-term rentals in the County, Staff would like direction in regard to initiating a land use and development code text amendment and any standards that should be contained therein. 5 PUBLIC NOTICE Take Notice that the Board of County Commissioners has requested to amend multiple articles of the Land Use and Development Code including, but not limited, to Articles 3 and 15, in regard to short term residential rentals. All persons affected by the proposed text amendment are invited to appear and state their views, protests or support. If you cannot appear personally at such hearing, then you are urged to state your views by letter, as the Planning Commission will give consideration to all comments received, in deciding whether to recommend approval, modification or denial of the text amendments to the Board of County Commissioners. The application may be reviewed at the office of the Community Development Department located at 108 8th Street, 4th Floor, Garfield County Administration Building, Glenwood Springs, Colorado between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. A public hearing before the Planning Commission on this request has been scheduled for the 14th day of October at 6:00 p.m. in the County Commissioners Meeting Room, Garfield County Administration Building, 108 8th Street, Glenwood Springs, Colorado.