HomeMy WebLinkAbout022425 email - Public Engagement + Short Term Rentals_ Turning Community Concerns into PolicyALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Dear Jefferson County Planning Commissioners + DCD Staff,
Once again I want to acknowledge the work that has been done by both staff and Commissioners towards the proposed short term rental regulations. While the second half of the public hearing
became messy, I believe that the proposal is a strong foundation that will be sent forward to the Board of County Commissioners. Thank you.
However, during the deliberations of the proposed regulations, I was dismayed to hear many Commissioners retreating from previous discussions on STRs and forgetting why many of them
were originally proposed. I wanted to kindly remind the Commissioners that the DCD staff engaged three separate town halls on this topic over the course of the year, allowing for community
members to voice their concerns or positions, no matter what side they fell on. MANY, IF NOT ALL of the proposals that were submitted by HSN were a collaborative effort from those meetings-
understanding and addressing neighbor’s concerns, homeowner’s investments, and the impacts short term rentals have on the community (again, for better for worse). Compiled with the
notes from each community town hall, DCD’s Brent Butler spent valuable staff hours and energy finding regulatory code and examples from other communities who have also been impacted
by unregulated STRs. It’s unfortunate that not many Commissioners were present to hear these community town halls outside of Comm. Koan.
During the deliberations last Wednesday evening it seemed many of you had forgotten the community’s voice and position on STRs. Some of you questioned why you were proposing regulations,
while others missed the opportunity to connect input that had already been shared and documented with the complementary proposals. And while I don’t disagree with Comm. Stroming’s point
being this isn’t the silver bullet to affordable housing, not applying pressure to the hemorrhaging wound is simply out of the question. Commissioners Sircely and Koan seemed to be
the only ones to connect community to policy.
I know that AirBnb encouraged many short term rental owners to come out and voice their concerns. From those comments in the room and online, I remind you that many of these individuals
don’t live in our community, and aren’t invested in our community, unless you count the private investments they profit off of in our community.
When it comes to future public hearings, I might recommend that the Commissioners are provided a recap or summary of community engagement leading up to the discussion at hand. It would
be unfortunate to continue asking the community to make time, show up, voice their concerns, and have all of that fall on deaf ears- especially with a busy year of Comp Plan engagement
like the Roadshows that start this week. HSN would like to continue being a good partner in outreach and education, and we would like to ensure that these efforts don’t go to waste.
Thank you again,
Liz
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Liz Revord
She/her
Housing Solutions Network
Network Director