RENTALS

Commissioner Lora omas rattled o a long list of areas in Douglas County where the rentals would not be allowed in addition to Highlands Ranch and the Pinery area, including Chat eld Farms, Keene Ranch, Meridian, “which includes Stepping Stone,” the Roxborough Park area, Sterling Ranch and many others. “ e (rentals) will not be allowed in their neighborhoods unless there is a zoning change,” omas said.

e new law passed on a 2-1 vote with omas opposed and Teal and Commissioner Abe Laydon voting in favor.

County will charge fees for license

But omas supported a companion policy to the new law, a resolution approving the county’s fees associated with regulating short-term rentals.

“I think that if we’re doing this, we need to cover the costs of sta ,” omas said.

Under the resolution, the shortterm rental property license fees are as follows:

• Application review fee for rst licensing year: $500

• Application review fee for subsequent licensing years: $270

• License fee: $130

Teal noted the fees may appear high to some, but “those fees are not meant to ll the co ers of the county.” e commissioners approved the fee resolution unanimously.

Fees were to be set to cover the cost of administering and enforcing the ordinance, a statement from county sta in June said.

Ins and outs of regulations e ordinance includes a long list of rules, such as the following:

• For properties that contain a detached single-family home and an additional residence of any kind — such as a guest house or a caretaker residence — the owner is allowed to use only one residence as a shortterm rental property.

• e motor vehicles and trailers of all occupants of the short-term rental property “shall be able to be accommodated on the permitted and approved driveway” of the property. No motor vehicles or trailers “shall be parked on the vegetated areas” of the property.

• e county will also be able to inspect the property to enforce the requirements of the ordinance, including by the Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce, and may enter “at all reasonable times.” e law has some exceptions to who has to follow regulations. e ordinance “shall not apply to” homes that are not leased more than 14 days in a calendar year and not advertised as a short-term rental on a regular basis, the law’s text says.

• Any person who violates any provision of the ordinance would face a ne of $250 for a rst violation, $500 for a second violation and $1,000 for the third and subsequent violations.

Leadup to new law

Just because short-term rentals weren’t regulated in unincorporated Douglas County doesn’t mean they weren’t happening. Airbnb’s website on June 18 showed a handful of listings that appeared to be in unincorporated Douglas County. (Some listings don’t show an exact location on the website’s map.)

Over the past two years, county sta met with the commissioners multiple times to discuss a potential ordinance and other possible options for allowing and regulating short-term rentals, a county sta report says.

“ ere were also multiple live town halls held on the topic for the board (of commissioners) to discuss options with the public,” the report says.

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