Following the Summit County Council’s decision not to temporarily stop issuing new licenses for short-term rental housing, Community Development Director Pat Putt says he’ll meet with the council to better define what problems they need to address.
“Is it lost lodging tax revenue? ” he asked. “Is it community neighborhood nuisances? Is it the loss of workforce housing? Is that the change in the community character? Is it? Is it a combination of some or all of those things? I think what everybody left the meeting with is an understanding that we before we write anything up, we better define that. And so, I think that's what we will be doing here, starting immediately.”
While the county has various tools it can use to regulate nightly rentals through zoning - restricting the areas where nightly rentals can exist - Putt says they’ll also look to the Homeowner Associations [HOAs] to enforce - and even beef up their existing CC&Rs [Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions].
“There are a number of HOAs in the in the region that aggressively monitor and enforce those. Having the discussion with the HOAs absolutely vital. Are there changes to the licensing provisions through the county clerks? Absolutely? Do we have the ability as part of that to up our enforcement level and inspection level? Theoretically, yes.”
Putt agrees with councilor Roger Armstrong that the area is losing its sense of community due to the proliferation of short-term rentals.
“For me personally, yeah, I'm concerned,” Putt said. “I'm always concerned about the quality and the character and the livability of the area that we live in. Speaking for myself, I don't believe I have a really firm grasp on the implications of what nightly rental means. I think that there's a tremendous amount of work to be done. And I'm kind of reassured that before we make any decision, code change, moratorium or otherwise, we're gonna have more debate.”
Putt said there will be plenty of time for debate and input before any decision or code changes occur.
