Planning Commissioner Cindy Butterfield called it a “conundrum” March 4: how to avoid government overreach while controlling the negative effects of nightly rentals, such as Airbnbs or VRBOs.
“If I have to pick between saying, ‘You know what, we can have 40 versus zero,’ my choice is zero,” she said at the planning commission meeting. “I appreciate the conversation and the explanation that this is a good starting spot, that this is not set in stone.”
All five commissioners voted for a ban with the understanding they may revise after a Summit County subcommittee proposes similar regulations for unincorporated areas.
“They haven't adopted theirs yet, because it is so complicated,” Kamas Mayor Matt McCormick told commissioners at the meeting. “And I think what [the city planner] is doing and saying is, ‘Put this in place while we work on something that we can live with.’ But nobody seems to be able to put a rope around because it is so complicated.”
The Kamas City Council has the final say on the short-term rental ordinance, and it's on the March 11 agenda.
Planning commissioners expressed sympathy for those who rent their homes on sites like Airbnb currently, but they point out that’s not really allowed under city rules.
Kamas doesn’t offer business licenses for short-term rentals, which amounts to a de facto ban. It also means the city can’t collect taxes on nightly rentals.
City Planner Amanda Curtis drafted the proposed ordinance in response to Utah House Bill 256. It would allow the city to use listings to enforce short-term rental regulations, provided staff had other evidence such as neighbor complaints.
But Curtis reads the law as applying only to cities or counties that already regulate short-term rentals. If HB256 becomes law, she believes Kamas would need a policy in place by May 7, the same day it takes effect.
She explained some of the criticisms of short-term rentals, based on a study by Summit County’s housing and economic development director.
“Jeff Jones did a huge study into this,” she said. “And found that not only was it decreasing the amount of long-term rentals that were available, but it was hiking up the prices on houses for sale because it was a skewed market. So it was offering these homes at a price that was really only available to people that were looking for second homes that were doing something like [a short-term rental].”
The same is true of corporations. Commissioners expressed worries about community character drying up if companies buy up homes just to rent out short-term.
Another bill, House Bill 149, would have banned companies from doing that. But it never made it out of committee.
HB256, meanwhile, is expected to become law. It was back in the House for a final vote as of Thursday, March 6.
The legislative session ends March 7.
