Summit County is home to the largest share of short-term rentals in the state.
Short-term rentals, or STRs, are defined as rentals for fewer than 30 consecutive days. The market is largely dominated by online marketplaces like Airbnb and VRBO.
According to data compiled by University of Utah researchers last year, 22% of all housing units in Summit County are actively listed as short-term rentals.
At a joint meeting of the Park City and Summit County councils Monday, the Western Mountain Resort Alliance argued STRs are a vital part of the local resort economy.
The alliance is a consortium of real-estate groups in high-end mountain towns, including Park City, Aspen, and Jackson Hole.
Jack Greacen, a housing policy advisor working for the alliance, says any short-term rental restrictions may not produce the intended consequences, like more housing for workers.
“As an association, we are truly agnostic to the regulation of STRs,” Greacen said. “But if you start to put the possibilities of regulation on a spectrum, the further you get towards the end where we’re looking at either complete bans or caps within communities on regulations, the consequences of those are very extreme.”
Based on research from outside communities, Greacen says owners of short-term rentals would likely keep their units or let them sit vacant if such a use was banned.
“It winds up hurting the property owners across communities, because there is a taking that occurred without just compensation to cover up those individuals,” he said.
Greacan says a short-term rental restriction could decrease the value of an individual property by as much as $600,000.
Summit County is exploring regulating the short-term rental licensing process. The specifics of those rules remain unclear, but no outright ban has been discussed.
Around two years ago, the county council did look at enacting a six-month moratorium on STR licenses. The council rejected the measure after garnering significant push back from property owners, including the Park City Board of Realtors.
