Some Durangoans are talking about fighting the direction of the City Council on vacation rentals.
“The people in the neighborhoods, and there’s quite a number of them, are upset,” Durangoan Joe Gambone said. “These people are talking about the possibility of doing something.”
Many residents who spoke at a May 20 public hearing urged councilors for a 3 percent cap or leaving the code as is – a 500-foot buffer between vacation rentals.
However, councilors have directed staff members to write an ordinance allowing a 5 percent cap on vacation rentals in the two established neighborhoods, with up to two rentals per street segment. The second rental would have to obtain a conditional-use permit.
A street segment was defined as the part of the street between intersections.
Councilors also approved no physical separation of vacation rentals in mixed-use residential buildings if the applicant shows he or she has distributed local contact information for the vacation rental to all unit owners and tenants in the building.
Many were disappointed with the council’s decision at the end of the hearing, Gambone said. He met with city staff Wednesday morning to say residents are considering a petition, referendum or an initiative.
A referendum is a proposal to the council to repeal the law. 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 the City Council for consideration, and it can be voted on by the public if it’s denied. Residents can pursue both options simultaneously.
Gambone said he believes Councilors Christina Rinderle and Keith Brant have conflicts of interest because of their connection with vacation rentals, and they should abstain from voting.
“Many, many people were upset because it appeared very obvious to them that there was a conflict of interest,” he said. City councilors discussed the possibility of some action by residents at their study session Wednesday afternoon.
City Attorney Dirk Nelson said starting the referendum process would cause the vacation-rental ordinance to be suspended, pending the public vote.
Rinderle said residents would be opening a can of worms, and the city wouldn’t able to enforce the vacation-rental code if there was a referendum.
“They’re doing it to themselves basically,” she said. “We passed an ordinance that has enforcement that starts July 1.”
Mayor Sweetie Marbury suggested removing the enforcement piece from the current draft ordinance, so the city could show residents that it was serious about cracking down on illegal vacation rentals. However, if the ordinance is suspended, there’s nothing to enforce. Vacation-rental regulations also could vanish if a referendum passed and an initiative failed.
“You can’t have enforcement of a policy when you don’t know which way it’s going to go,” Councilor Keith Brant said.
The council still needs to vote on a first and a second reading to make the ordinance final. When final, the vacation-rental ordinance will be part of the Land Use Development Code that the council needs to finalize so it can take effect July 1.
If the referendum failed and the initiative passed, there could be two sets of regulations, Nelson said.
“It turns into the wild, wild West,” Councilor Dean Brookie said. “If that’s what happens, that’s what they get.”
City staff members discussed breaking the original ordinance into three sections: separation of vacation rentals in the Central Business District, separation and number of allowed units downtown and on West Second and Third avenues, and enforcement.
City Manager Ron LeBlanc said the council may want to consider a moratorium if they split the ordinance, so no new applications would be considered.
Durangoan Tom Darnell said the city is not respecting the neighborhoods, and is depriving people, who work in town, of housing. The rental market in Durango has a 2 percent vacancy rate.
“All of a sudden we’ve gotten an upsurge in (vacation rentals), and nobody really understands the ramifications of it,” Darnell said. “(Councilor) Dick White said that really well the other night. I don’t think people are aware of what’s going on next to them in a lot of ways.”
The councilors also discussed extending a moratorium on vacation rentals until after the November election or until a special election later this year or early next year.
smueller@durangoherald.com
