A WHEREAS clause of Ordinance 2024-05 reads in part:
“it was determined that uncontrolled and unregulated short-term rentals may also have a direct effect on the quality and character of the community and individual neighborhoods and properties in Town.”
In 1978 my wife and I were looking to live and to put down roots in a new community. It would be a small town and be a safe place where we could raise our children. It would have good schools and plenty of churches to choose from. There would be nearby mountains, forests, rivers, orchards, and farms. There would be evidence that people cared about the condition of their homes & yards. My wife had her heart set on “dream acres”, just outside of town that included an irrigated pasture for horses and room for a large garden.
When we came over McClure Pass & down the valley, we saw a big white “P”, which we took to mean “Paradise”. It was Paonia, and we chose it as our new hometown. However there were few properties for sale because the Colorado Westmoreland mine was just opening and lots of miners were moving into town. Therefore “dream acres” was not available at that time, however were able to buy house in town, and did many upgrades and repairs to it. We lived there 9 years and grew to love the house.
In the mid 80’s several mines shut down, people moved away, and “dream acres” became available. We moved to “dream acres” on Pitkin Mesa in 1987. We kept the house in town and rented it long-term for 23 years. We had problems with collecting rent, damage to the house, neglect of the yard, excessive clutter, and complaints from neighbors about our renters.
Finally we were so fed up with all those issues, we changed the use of the house from a long-term rental to a short-term rental & have done that for the past 13 years. We now have none of the problems we did as long-term landlords. We clean, repair, make improvements, landscape, and water the yard ourselves, keeping everything neat and attractive for our short-term guests…
We do recognize the problems that too many STR’s cause in resort towns. There can be too few or too many, so logically there is a “Goldilocks zone” somewhere in between. In my opinion 30 STR’s, which is less than 5% of the dwellings in town, are too few. I don’t know how many is too many. A cap on the number of STR’s needs to be flexible until the Goldilocks zone is reached and capped therein.
– Joe Yeamans
Related action: Ballot - Repeal of Ordinance 2024-05