The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
New waiting list begun
By Mark Reaman
Of the 212 “unlimited” vacation rental licenses available in Crested Butte for 2018, 188 were applied for by the January 31 deadline. The town basically issued temporary permits to them all and will now take the next several months to inspect the properties.
The town issued 18 “primary” vacation rental licenses as well. There are 23 people on the waiting list.
Under the new town regulations, a limit of 30 percent of the homes in town can be issued a vacation rental license to be used an unlimited number of nights per year. People with the “primary” licenses must live in the house as their primary residence and have a limit of 60 nights to rent it annually.
As of this week, the 23 people on the waiting list have 30 days to complete the application and pay fees to receive a license. A fee for the unlimited” license is $750 annually, while the “primary” license fee is $200. If everyone on the waiting list comes in, there would be one outstanding license for 2018. After the 30-day period, the town will reset the wait list for any additional license requests for the 2019 license program.
“While I’m amazed how the numbers worked out for the unlimited licenses, it shows that the vacation rental committee and council had a pretty good idea of how vacation rentals were being used in town when they came up with the new rules,” Crested Butte community development director Michael Yerman told the council at the February 5 meeting.
The town has hired an inspector to look over the properties for health and safety issues as well as making sure the properties have adequate parking. Once the properties pass inspection, a permanent license is granted.
A new waiting list will be started for people wanting to short-term rent their properties for 2019. There is no deadline or cap on the number of “primary” licenses the town can issue.
According to Yerman, the town has started safety inspections of the homes and these will continue throughout the year. Notices were sent out to neighboring properties last week.
He also reminded the council that as of January 1, vacation rentals would be collecting an additional use tax that will contribute to the town’s affordable housing fund.
