The Larimer County Commissioners and Estes Park Board of Trustees finally reached consensus on short-term aka vacation rental regulations in the Estes Valley in a joint meeting on December 15. While some of the elected officials were not entirely happy with all the details of the ordinance, in a spirit of compromise they voted to adopt the regulations in order to have a consistent policy in place in Estes Park and surrounding Estes Valley.
The ordinance, which is available for review here http://tinyurl.com/zl5e9jh, requires all existing or new vacation rental owners to obtain an annual “operation registration” by March 31, 2017. The application fee for vacation rentals within Estes Park is $200 plus $50 per bedroom (based on the Larimer County assessor data). There is no fee for properties located outside the town boundaries.
The ordinance caps the number of rentals within residential zones at 588, with a limit of eight people per home. A special review process is required for any owner who wishes to house nine or more people. The cap will be reviewed annually. In order to ensure complaints are resolved quickly, a local representative or property manager must be designated. Employee housing, attainable housing and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) cannot be registered as vacation rentals.
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