Summit County Considers “Responsible Agent” Requirement for Short Term Rentals
In May 2018, Summit County started working to develop new regulations that might apply to short term rentals in the unincorporated portions of Summit County. As part of that process, it created a Short Term Rental Regulations page on its site as well as a Short Term Vacation Rentals blog. On July 26, Summit County also submitted a Request for Proposals for Administration of Short Term Rentals, which seeks third-party help in creating an inventory of local short term rental units and in eventually administering its future short term rental regulatory program.
On August, 27, 2018, the Summit County Planning Commission conducted a meeting to consider a working draft of proposed amendments to the Land Use & Development Code regarding Summit County short term rentals. In its Staff Report, Summit County identified the following as common goals for a short term rental regulatory program:
- Balance the needs of guests with the needs of the local community;
- Mitigate neighborhood impacts to preserve quality of life – traffic, parking, noise, trash, neighborhood
character; - Level the playing field with other commercial lodging businesses (bed & breakfasts, hotels);
- Ensure proper regulation and inspection of health, life, and safety items; and
- Mitigate the impacts on the supply of long term housing, to maintain a year-round community.
The working draft of the proposed amendments would require a permit for each short term vacation rental property located in unincorporated Summit County. This short term rental permit would expire on September 30 of each calendar year or when the property transfers to a new owner.
As presently drafted, Summit County is also considering limiting occupancy for short term rental units to two persons per bedroom, plus two additional occupants. Additional occupancy limitations might also apply to any short-term vacation rental property that is served by a well and/or septic system. However, during the course of the meeting, a number of potential concerns were raised. As a result, occupancy limitations potentially appeared to be subject to future revision (or even possible elimination).
Furthermore, the working draft would require property owners in unincorporated Summit County to designate a “Local Agent” for short term rentals. During the meeting, members of the Planning Commission and Summit County staff seemed to agree that a title change to “Responsible Agent” might be appropriate to avoid confusion and match the Responsible Agent requirement in Breckenridge. As currently written, the working draft mandates that a Responsible Agent be someone “whose physical address of residence is within Summit County or within 30 miles driving distance of the short-term vacation rental property’s street address.” Some members of the Planning Commission publicly stated that it might be prudent to drop the physical location requirement in a future draft, but at least one Commission member countered that a physical location close to Summit County was potentially important to regulatory success. The working draft now provides that the Responsible Agent “shall have access and authority to assume management of the unit and take remedial measures.” In addition, the agent shall be available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to respond to tenant and neighborhood questions or concerns. In an interesting difference from the Breckenridge Responsible Agent Ordinance, the working draft currently states that, “[i]n the event of a fire ban within Summit County, the local agent is required to notify renters of the current fire restrictions and provide renters with instructions on how to access the Summit County Alert System for realtime information during their stay.”
After defining the Responsible Agent role, the working draft laid out a process for complaint handling regarding short term rentals. At the time of the incident, the Responsible Agent would receive initial complaints concerning a short-term vacation rental property. The working draft directs that the Responsible Agent “shall respond to the complaint, including visiting the site if necessary.” If an initial complaint is not resolved, the working draft provides for the following process:
a formal complaint may be filed with the Planning Department or designee, on forms provided by the County. The formal complaint shall describe in detail the violation(s) of this Section alleged to have occurred on the short-term vacation rental property. Within three (3) days of receipt of such a complaint, the County shall provide a copy of the formal complaint to the owner. Formal complaints shall be signed by an individual and subject to public inspection; no anonymous formal complaints shall be accepted.
Once received, Summit County shall investigate any formal complaint to determine if it is a substantiated complaint that represents a documented violation of its short term rental requisites. The working draft notes that “[i]t is the philosophy of Summit County to first educate and inform property owners or residents of the violation and provide them with an opportunity to correct the situation to comply with the requirements of this Code.” However, if violations are not corrected or if there are repeat offenders, the working draft states that “Summit County will then pursue more formal action”. While there is an appeal procedure, the working draft provides for the possibility for revoking the permit that belongs to the short term rental property. In that case, “[f]or a minimum of two (2) years following revocation of a short-term vacation rental permit, the County shall not accept an application for a new permit for the same short-term vacation rental property.”
At the end of the August 27 meeting, the Countywide Planning Commission seemed to unanimously agree that it would be prudent to engage in additional discussion regarding and potential revision of the working draft of its short term rental regulations. As a result, Summit County staff will edit the working draft a bit more, and discussion was continued to the Commission’s next meeting on September 10, 2018 at 5:30PM.
If Summit County eventually passes a “Responsible Agent” requisite, Summit Local Agent aims to help you comply in the most cost-effective way possible, by serving as your Responsible Agent.
