The Heber City Council is meeting in its regular session Tuesday to discuss short term rentals, affordable housing and annexations.
The council has been discussing possible ordinances surrounding nightly rentals in the city for about a year. Currently, no ordinances exist regulating services such as Airbnb or VRBO in Heber City. After some citizens brought complaints to the mayor the city decided to consider an ordinance.
One consideration is limiting full-house rental to a 24-block area near Main Street and Center Street. Heber City Mayor Kellen Potter says the council has heard from residents with a variety of opinions.
There are people that want to be able to do what they want with their private property as long as they’re following city ordinances,” Potter said. “There are people that say, ‘I moved to this neighborhood to have peace and quiet, I don’t want you renting out a room, or renting out that house.’”
A Facebook poll conducted by the city on the issue had 285 respondents. The poll showed that 52% of respondents believe rentals should be limited to zoned areas while 48% believe they should be permitted in all areas. Council will discuss the feedback they’ve heard at the council meeting.
Council will also discuss updating the city’s ordinance requiring developers designate affordable housing.
City staff and the planning commission under the direction of the council are clarifying the current fee-in-lieu calculation and also attempting to encourage ownership of affordable units in place of the units simply becoming rentals.
Finally, the will also discuss the North Village Resort and consider amending the annexation policy plan.
“How do we implement our Envision Heber patterns and beliefs that the community came up with to try and create an area that looks like what people want it to look like,” Potter said. “What open space and what density do we want to achieve? You only get one shot at this stuff.”
Other items on the agenda include selecting a new contract for city auditing services, reviewing the city’s investment portfolio, and an update on the city’s ongoing response to COVID-19.