Homes along East 3rd Avenue, zoned as  Existing Neighborhood 1, are desirable for potential vacation renters. Under a new set of rules being proposed by the City, the number of legal vacation rentals allowed in this zone will jump from 24 to 35. The City will also step up its crackdown on illegal rentals in the neighborhood./Photo by Steve Eginoire

Laying down the law

City’s new vacation rentals policy inlcudes stricter enforcement

by Tracy Chamberlin

More than 50 operate in Durango. Less than half are legal.

According to city officials, only 22 vacation rentals are permitted in Durango but more than 50 are advertised on various websites, such as VRBO and Craigslist.

As a result, city leaders are looking at a new set of rules to govern vacation rentals throughout town as well as keep a lid on the illegal ones.

“As soon as we pass this ordinance, we’re going after the ones that are not legal,” said City Manager Ron LeBlanc at a City Council meeting May 20.

In order to tackle the illegal rentals, an enforcement team made up of city staff from a variety of departments will be tasked with looking for vacation rentals advertised in Durango and verifying if they are properly permitted.

Keeping up with the Joneses Highlights of proposed ordinance on vacation rentals: -   Only applies to EN-1, or Existing Neighborhood 1 (downtown Durango), and EN-2 (West Second and Third Avenues) - Includes a 5 percent cap on the total number of vacation rentals allowed in each type of neighborhood - Limits the number of vacation rentals to two per street segment, which runs from intersection to intersection - The second vacation rental on a street segment must get a Conditional Use Permit, which requires public hearings - The 500-foot buffer is not required for vacation rentals located in mixed-use buildings - In the Central Business District, vacation rentals with three bedrooms or more are allowed to reduce the number of required parking spaces by one

If it turns out they are not, property owners will be ordered to cease and desist, LeBlanc said during an interview Tuesday. After that, the city is prepared to take legal action. “So, they might find themselves in court,” he added.

The city also plans to hire a company to monitor the various websites that market vacation rentals for potential violators. LeBlanc is in the process of choosing one now and expects to make a decision in the next couple of weeks.

The city’s enforcement team will work alongside the contracted company to monitor, verify and alert violators.

“If someone’s operating illegally in the city,” LeBlanc said, “they need to stop.”

The first way to identify illegal vacation rentals? Location, location, location. The only zones where vacation rentals are allowed is EN-1, or Existing 4 Neighborhood-1, and EN-2.

Those cover the avenues east of downtown, from 3rd to 9th, excluding College Drive and a portion of East 8th; and West 2nd and 3rd avenues running parallel to North Main, respectively.

City Councilor Keith Brant proposed requiring vacation rental owners to list their city permit number in ads, allowing staff and contractors to weed out the illegal units.

With the rise of websites like VRBO, which asks visitors to “explore over 575,000 vacation properties worldwide,” or AirBnB, which invites them to “rent from people in over 34,000 cities and 192 countries,” Durango joins a growing gang of towns forced to address the vacation rental trend.

It’s something that the city has allowed since 1989. Back then, they were referred to as “tourist homes.”

As the concept of staying at a real home away from home took hold in the marketplace, amendments were added to the city’s Land Use and Development Code in 2007, 2008 and, again, in 2009.

Under current regulations, which require a 500-foot buffer between each vacation rental, the maximum number allowed is 52 total – 24 in EN-1 and 28 in EN-2.

Under the rules being proposed by the City, the number allowed in EN-1 would go up to 35, whereas the number allowed in EN-2 would remain at 28.

The proposed ordinance would not take away the ability to have vacation rentals, but includes language that would keep them from taking over the town – a fate that has befallen other Colorado communities.

Greg Hoch, director of the city’s Community Development Department who introduced the ordinance at the May 20 meeting, brought up Estes Park, a resort town nestled in the mountains west of Loveland.

That town chose to open up to vacation rentals, without restrictions. Today, more than half of the town’s housing units have been lost to vacation rentals, leaving little room for those who actually live and work there.

In an attempt to avoid becoming the next Estes Park, as well as ending up with clusters of vacation rentals in the EN-1 and EN-2 neighborhoods, the council considered placing a cap of 3 or 5 percent on the overall number allowed in each type of neighborhood with the possibility of only having one or two per street segment.

The phrase “street segment” ended up becoming a major point of confusion at the May 20 meeting. It’s specifically defined as the section between intersecting streets.

For example, one street segment could include homes facing each other on either side of East 3rd Avenue, running between the intersections of 10th and 9th streets.

But with curves, corner lots and a little LUDC lingo sprinkled in, that definition quickly got weighed down. Ultimately, City Planner Scott Shine came to the podium and offered a draft map for visual reference and clarification.

After hours of discussion, debate and public comment, council members voted 4-1, with City Councilor Sweetie Marbury dissenting in favor of the 3 percent cap, to approve a 5 percent cap and a maximum of two per street segment, the second needing a Conditional Use Permit, which requires hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council, as well as public comment.

Map it out - To comment or ask questions about vacation rentals and the proposed ordinance, email City Planner Scott Shine at scott.shine@durangogov.org or call the Community Development Department, 375-4858. -  To view the city’s Vacation Rental Information page, which maps out the location of currently permitted vacation rentals as well as those  with pending applications and more, visit durangogov.org/index.aspx?NID=800.

In addition to those decisions, the Council voted to add language to the proposed ordinance that would not require a physical separation between commercial units and vacation rentals in mixed-use buildings; and, they allowed for a one parking space reduction of what’s typically required for units in the Central Business District that have three or more bedrooms.

The next step in the process is a first reading of the ordinance, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the June 3 council meeting. If it’s approved and moves along in a timely manner, the ordinance will take effect July 1, along with the rest of the updated Land Use and Development Code.

When the city does start accepting new applications for vacation rentals, it will be on a first-come, first-served basis – except for violators. They can expect to be sent to the back of the line.

Regardless of how many applications are received, the city’s focus will be making sure the vacation rentals that do exist are properly permitted.

“I promise you,” Marbury said during the meeting, “enforcement is the key issue.”