Summit County’s current rules require business licenses for short-term rentals like Airbnbs or VRBOs.
They’re also effectively banned in “accessory dwelling units,” which are usually small mother-in-law-style apartments on single-family home lots.
A county subcommittee has been meeting for months to improve policy and enforcement. According to Deputy County Manager Janna Young, the committee is emphasizing the enforcement side before drafting new rules.
They have hired a new code enforcement officer who is responding to complaints about short-term rentals. The clerk’s office is also hiring someone who will use new software technology to organize and enforce STR business licenses.
“Let's get up and running and have this operational for a while and see what information we can collect that will help us actually identify how many we have and when they're operating and all this and what kind of violations there are,” Young told councilmembers June 25. “And then we'll come back to that working group and see what, if any, additional codes or ordinances you want to push forward.”
Councilmember Roger Armstrong said he’s in favor of updating STR rules, and he’d like the council to consider and vote on an ordinance before the end of the year.
“That will give us a couple of months, hopefully three, four months of enforcement,” Armstrong said.
The county estimates only about 1,200 out of 5,000 or 6,000 short-term rentals are licensed.
But state law recently changed to allow officials to use online listings on Airbnb or VRBO as evidence that a property owner is running an STR. That would allow the county to tax STR customers like hotel customers already are.
More broadly, critics say short-term rentals drive up housing costs by making properties more valuable and more scarce.
Proponents like the value and business model STRs provide homeowners: people who own second or third homes in Summit County can have them generate revenue while they’re away.
Summit County staff estimate 38% of housing across the county is “vacant,” meaning it isn’t occupied full-time by the owner or a long-term renter. In Park City, 56% of housing is vacant.
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