Estes, Larimer input sought on short-term rentals

ESTES PARK – Larimer County is seeking guidance from stakeholders and other members of the public as it updates its land-use code concerning short-term rentals — an issue vital to tourism-dependent areas such as the Estes Valley, where vacation-home rentals are common.

Short-term rentals have both advantages and challenges in communities. They provide options for visitors and increased revenues for owners, but communities have become concerned with the associated traffic, noise, commercial activity in neighborhoods and fire safety. Also, the Board of Larimer County Commissioners has identified the loss of affordable housing as an issue, especially for seasonal workers in the tourism industry.

The six- to eight-month update of the land-use code is designed to align it with changes and expansions in the home-sharing and rental markets to address community concerns about neighborhood impacts and the compatibility of those properties.

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Officials say they need input from residents throughout Larimer County, as well as just those living in the Estes Valley, to ensure a comprehensive update.

Community members can share short-term rental comments, feedback and ideas through a pair of online questionnaires — a quick one and a longer, more detailed one — until Aug. 28. Two additional events also are scheduled: a Zoom webinar from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 9, for which participants can register here, and an in-person meeting focusing on Estes Valley short-term rentals from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 15 at the Estes Valley Community Center, 660 Community Drive in Estes Park.

Short-term-rental regulations in the Larimer County Land Use Code went into effect Sept. 1, 2019, but they’re predated by regulations for Estes Valley-area vacation homes that were adopted in 2017. Those regulations set a cap on the total number of short-term rental properties in residential areas, with a waitlist that was established in 2018. When Larimer County began a development review for the Estes Valley in March 2020, the Estes Valley Development Code regulations continued to apply to existing approved vacation homes there, while short-term rental regulations from the countywide Land Use Code applied to new applications.

The county’s land-use code defines a short-term rental as “a dwelling rented to transient guests for 30 or fewer consecutive days, when not occupied by the owner/renter.” The code classifies short-term rentals into two categories: small and large. “Small” is defined as 10 or fewer occupants, while “large” is defined as 11 or more occupants. The number of occupants is based on the number of legal bedrooms, at two guests per bedroom. For example, a four-bedroom home would be allowed eight total guests, and thereby, would be defined as a “small short-term rental.”

Additionally, the land-use code classifies short-term rentals as a commercial use.

A preliminary draft of the updated regulations will be available for review in September, with later public meetings in the fall to hear comments on the draft.