Sunday is the deadline to license your short-term rentals in Steamboat Springs, and city staff indicated on Tuesday that there will not be an extension.
The grace period owners have had to keep operating without a license closes April 30, after which they will no longer be able to advertise their STR. The has city added overlay zones, licensing and a voter approved tax on STRs in the last year.
“The grace period is closing, and applicants can’t say they haven’t had enough time to obtain a license,” said Rebecca Bessey, the city’s planning director, in a Tuesday release. “Every STR needs to obtain a license and the online process is easy and convenient – there’s even a step-by-step document to guide people through the entire process.”
At Council's meeting on Tuesday, Council member Michael Buccino asked about an extension, but city staff replied that they did not feel it was necessary. Bessey said there are still a lot of incomplete applications, but that most are responsive with city staff to get them complete. If an application is still incomplete when the deadline passes, Bessey said enforcement wouldn't be the priority right away.
"If they haven't completed that application within 30 days, I think then would could potentially start a proceeding to withdraw that application," Bessey said.
As of April 24, there were 1,808 applications, 632 had been reviewed and 424 licenses have been issued. About 200 of them are currently incomplete, Bessey said.
Each short-term rental in the city is required to obtain a license, which is good for one year before it needs to be renewed. There are three licenses, including a traditional STR, a temporary STR and a hosted STR. The latter of those is for when an owner rents out a single room in their home and is present when guests are there.
There are three overlay zones for STRs. In green zones, they are allowed without any cap. There is an exemption to the license for properties within a green zone allowing properties with a 24-hour front desk, 24-hour phone system and staff able to respond to complaints 24 hours a day.
In red zones, STRs are not allowed, though if a property was used as an STR prior to the city’s new regulations and was operating legally, they can get legal nonconforming status, allowing them to continue renting the property short term.
In yellow zones, the city is only accepting applications from STRs that currently have legal nonconforming status.
There isn’t currently a waitlist for applications in yellow zones, as these areas have a cap on how many STRs are allowed in total. Hosted and temporary STRs are allowed in all zones.
The city has created a step-by-step guide for licensing, which can be found at steamoatsprings.net/STR