CB South to vote on STR limits and camper vehicle rules this summer

[ By Katherine Nettles ]

The Crested Butte South Property Owners Association (POA) is proposing three separate changes to its covenants later this summer to address short-term rentals, camper vehicle rules and some antiquated language. Each change will be voted on separately by property owners and all are being discussed in a series of public information sessions over the next two months.
The first covenant change would limit short-term rental of a residence in CB South to 90 days per calendar year. The second change would make for what POA director Dom Eymere refers to as “more fair and equitable camper rules,” allowing parking for and short-term occupancy of small campers and RVs which are not currently allowed. The third change would be administrative, updating some language for housekeeping purposes.

The current covenants were established several decades ago in a very different era, and the proposed changes come after an extensive review process. The POA board of directors formed a steering committee more than two years ago to begin the review, and has since conducted surveys, public input sessions and a public comment period that ended earlier this year. The board is now reviewing the steering committee recommendations before sending the final proposals to property owners for a vote.

Short-term rentals (STRs) are not addressed at all under the original covenants.
“So if we don’t pass it, it is totally unregulated use,” says Sue Wallace, CB South compliance coordinator.
Community feedback has been in favor of allowing STRs, but adding restrictions on that use. Wallace says having people who live in the neighborhood is highly desirable to community members versus a “dark house” community of many rentals.
“So we’ve put together what we think is a good compromise, that you can rent out a residence up to 90 days in the calendar year,” says Wallace. The proposal also specifies that one cannot short-term rent both a primary and accessory dwelling at the same time.

“The board is trying to do what they can for local housing. The market is running pretty freely right now, and we don’t want to be a community of investor owned properties. We want a community of people who live here,“ she says.

The next question for property owners would potentially allow campers to be parked and occupied for up to two weeks at a time on private property. Current covenant language allows for an RV or camper to be parked in a driveway for up to 24 hours, but not occupied.

“We allow pop-ups and slide-ins but not other smaller campers that have the same impact,” explains Eymere.

The POA has heard from people that they want to have campers on their property and be able to use them. The new covenant proposed would allow campers that fit on a lot in an approved parking space to be parked there and occupied for a maximum of 14 consecutive days and a total of 45 days within a calendar year.

The POA is hosting information sessions to help the community engage in and become more informed about the process of the proposed covenant changes with the election date to be determined.

The first session was held earlier this month and the next two are scheduled for Thursday, July 1 from 5-6:30 p.m. at Sunset Hall and Thursday, August 5, at the same time and place.

As always, the only way to pass the new covenants is for a majority of property owners to turn out and vote one way or another. The last POA election in 2018 failed because it did not reach a quorum.

“We’ve heard so much from the community that they want both camping allowance and short-term rental regulations. It is really important that people understand that not voting doesn’t equal a ‘no’ vote. We need enough people to vote so that we have a quorum. More than 50 percent must vote in favor to pass something,” says Wallace. “We really want every owner to turn out.”