Registered voters in Durango must decide over the next couple of months whether to sign petitions asking for a city-wide vote on vacation rentals.

Some city residents have decided to raise their pens and paper in a fight to reverse new vacation rental regulations Durango City Council approved last week. The new requirements are part of the new Land Use and Development Code that will take effect Tuesday and repeals the old code.

About two dozen people attended the community meeting Thursday night held by members of the Boulevard Neighborhood Association and the Citizens for Healthy Established Neighborhoods to discuss that and retail marijuana stores in mixed-use neighborhoods.

Meeting participants said they felt City Council cared more about tourists and earning tax revenue than city residents.

“Do we want to lawyer up?” Durango resident Karen Anesi asked fellow Durangoans.

About 10 people at the meeting volunteered to gather signatures for a referendum and an initiative on vacation rentals. Durango resident Joe Gambone said they needed to do a referendum that would remove the new code and an initiative that could put back the old code, which a lot of people seem to prefer and would be less expensive than having lawyers write a new ordinance. He said they would need about 344 signatures for the referendum and 510 for the initiative.

A referendum is a petition to the council to repeal the law, which suspends the law pending the referendum vote. If the council rejects it, the proposal can go to a public vote.

An initiative allows residents to write their own ordinance and give it to City Council for consideration, and it can be voted on by the public if it is denied.

Residents can pursue both options simultaneously. An affidavit to start the referendum process must be filed with the city clerk within 30 days of the final ordinance approval, which was June 16. Filing the affidavit gives objectors another 30 days to gather signatures. The ordinance wouldn’t go into effect pending outcome of the petition process.

Residents also supported consulting a lawyer about whether residents can fight the decision by City Council to allow retail marijuana in mixed-use neighborhoods. Durango resident David Tart said he was concerned about increased traffic at East Third Avenue and College Drive. Some residents are concerned that the stores would lower property value and add a lot of traffic.

A possible development at 541 East Third Ave., also was mentioned for both vacation rentals and marijuana. The property is currently zoned light commercial and will switch to mixed-use neighborhood zoning when the new land-use development code takes effect next month.

Property developer Tracy Reynolds asked the Historic Preservation Board earlier this month to approve turning the existing single-family home into a duplex with a rooftop deck and an accessory dwelling unit. Reynolds said he is selling the units, and the owners could possibly use them as vacation rentals. The hearing was continued into next month.

Reynolds said if he can’t use the property that way, he has to find another use. He recently placed an advertisement in The Durango Herald listing the property for sale, lease or lease-purchase, saying the location is approved for medical or retail marijuana.

Anesi said at the meeting it was a good way to extort a neighborhood, which Reynolds disputed Friday.

“Unfortunately, it’s a form of reality,” he said. “We paid quite a bit of money for that piece of property, and we can’t just let it sit there.”

smueller@durangoherald.com