Eagle County could have new short-term rental regulations in place in time for winter

Eagle County may have an ordinance this year regarding short-term rentals. But expect that ordinance to take a relatively lighter approach compared to some other areas.

The Eagle County Board of Commissioners on Monday heard a presentation from Jeffrey Goodman of Granicus, a New Orleans-based consulting firm. That company was hired to collect data and provide information for the county’s effort to regulate short-term rentals.

As part of the research, Goodman took a look at what other resort counties are doing. Those counties included geographic neighbors including Pitkin, Garfield, Grand, Routt and Summit counties and resort communities in other states including Teton County, Wyoming, and Placer County, California.

Approaches included Routt and Summit counties’ highly restrictive efforts to rein in the industry. Garfield County’s regulations were categorized as an attempt to “legalize reality.”

Placer County’s regulations include caps based on neighborhood elevations.

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Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney noted that when officials started looking at regulating short-term rentals, “We felt it was about protecting workforce housing.” That view has changed, she said, given that short-term rentals are mostly located in and around resort areas.

Now, she added, the regulations should be about knowing who’s in those units and protecting the health and safety of guests. McQueeney added that questions of neighborhood character can often be addressed by homeowner and property owner associations.

County regulations should also mesh with various communities that already have regulations regarding short-term rentals.

Jim Clancy of the Beaver Creek Resort Association noted that Beaver Creek and Arrowhead were master planned to include short-term rentals.

“There’s a lot of good work taking place in those places,” Clancy said.

Vail Valley Partnership President and CEO Chris Romer encouraged the commissioners to collaborate with those and other communities to not duplicate existing efforts.

Eagle County Chief Financial Officer Jill Klosterman said officials may need Goodman’s help to determine how best to move to a registration program for short-term rentals, without setting up the county to be next on the list of lawsuits.

“We didn’t think we’d get this right on the first try, but we didn’t want to get it as wrong as some places did,” she said.

That may take hiring a program coordinator, she said.

As work continues, County Attorney Beth Oliver said the commissioners could have an ordinance to review by late summer. A phased introduction of a registration program could be ready to start for the winter season.