The Durango City Council agreed Tuesday to allow downtown homeowner associations to decide whether to allow or ban vacation rentals.
The council, absent Councilor Dean Brookie, decided during its study session to waive requiring a physical distance between businesses and residential housing if the building is in the Central Business District and the homeowners association approves vacation rentals.
Councilors still must vote in a regular meeting on any new language to the existing ordinance.
The conversation focused on parking needs and physical separation of downtown businesses and residential housing.
“I would call it an emergent issue,”Community Development Director Greg Hoch said. “Communities are generally left with ‘Should we ban them or should we encourage them or should we limit them – i.e. regulate them,’ and the vast majority of the communities have decided to regulate them.”
Durango Mayor Dick White suggested waiving the separation in the Central Business District, encompassing downtown. The councilors agreed to include existing and new buildings if they approve new code.
Officials changed rules on vacation rentals last year by limiting them to one per block in some established neighborhoods and residential areas and required advertisements to list the city permit number. They also streamlined the application process by eliminating the public hearing.
The issue re-emerged late last year when three residents who wanted to turn their units into vacation rentals at 1201 Main Ave., asked the city to waive parking and physical separation requirements.
The Lofts at 1201 is mixed-use, with residents living above commercial space. The Durango Planning Commission denied the request in November and the appeal was withdrawn before the City Council ruled.
