RENTALS

FROM PAGE 5 e county believes there are about 900 homes operating as STRs in unincorporated Je erson County, though it is di cult to get data on exactly how many are operating, and only 28 of them have received county permits.

Clements said rst, the county will change its enforcement policies.

“We are working on guring out an enforcement mechanism,” she said. “We can’t roll out new requirements without a mechanism to enforce them.” e county is looking for a third party to help create the compliance and monitoring aspects of the STR code, and Clements hopes to host community meets around the county by the end of June to hear what the community wants and what should be put in regs that will

“As that cold snow warms up and sees sun after the storm leaves, it will tend to sheet o the underlying crust bene t all of Je erson County. en the county will roll out a draft of the regulations.

Identifying STRs without permits

O’Keefe reminded attendees that the county operates its enforcement policies from complaints, so enforcement sta doesn’t stop by STRs, for example, to check to see if they are conforming to county policies.

“One of the issues we have is we don’t hear a lot of complaints about STRs,” O’Keefe said. “ e ones that don’t get permits, we don’t know about them, and they are not required to disclose that information on STR websites.”

If someone complains about an unpermitted STR, one of the county’s four enforcement sta members goes out to try to validate the complaint within three to four days, he said. e operator will have 10 days to correct the violation.

“One way to correct the violation is to stop operating the STR,” O’Keefe and produce kind of long-running wet avalanche activity, which is also what we saw over the last couple said. “What we do to ensure they have stopped is we look to make sure the ad is taken down. Sometimes they change the property from a short-term rental to a long-term rental, which means someone rents it for at least 30 days, which means it’s no longer a short-term rental. A lot of times, that’s what happens.”

If someone decides to go through the permitting process, then the county will allow the owner to honor existing rental agreements, but they must take down their ad.

State o cials are considering requiring STRs to list the locally obtained permit number on the websites, and if the county revokes the permit, the websites will be required to remove the listing, Je co sta said.

Additional attendees’ comments

Attendees said the county could make a lot of money if it increased the violation fee from $100 per day to something larger, but O’Keefe said days,” Lazar said. is story via Colorado Public Radio, a Colorado Community Media content partner. the fees are set by state mandate, and the county needs to be wary of TABOR caps on income.

Lazar said wet avalanche activity will likely drop o once higher temperatures become more consistent and snowpack melts, but there will still be plenty of risk for backcountry skiers and other outdoor recreators in the coming weeks. He said anyone going out into the snow should be extra careful.

“Outside of checking your forecast, you want to make sure you’re still carrying your minimum required rescue gear, which includes an avalanche transceiver, a shovel, and a probe,” Lazar said.

A man died near Breckinridge over the weekend after he was caught in a slide, becoming Colorado’s 11th avalanche fatality this snow season. One more recreational fatality will tie the state’s all-time record, set in 1993.

A question, which was met with applause from the audience, asked if the county doesn’t have the ability to enforce the current regulations, why not enact a moratorium on STRs?

O’Keefe said a moratorium only would stop the 28 licensed STRs from operating, but the rest would continue operating outside the law.

Susan Gilbride, a member of Foothills Community Action Group who helped moderate the event, called unincorporated Je erson County the “wild wild West” when it comes to short-term rentals because people can buy houses and turn them into lucrative STRs with little to no oversight.

When someone asked why the county allows STRs in the foothills and what are the bene ts, O’Keefe noted that some believe STRs are important and good for the community.