The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Looking for another approach to gather data for town
By Mark Reaman
The Crested Butte town council has backed off the idea of requiring all short-term rental (STR) properties to have an energy assessment (EA) as part of the license renewal process. During the September 2 meeting, the council voted 5-2 to not proceed with an ordinance requiring all STRs with “Unlimited Vacation Rental Licenses” to have an energy assessment completed by October 2026 to obtain a 2027 license. There are approximately 185 such licenses in Crested Butte.
According to a staff memo to council, “the purpose of the energy assessment requirement is to enable the town to collect data on residential energy use across residential properties, supporting community-wide efforts to monitor and potentially reduce energy consumption.”
The proposed ordinance wouldn’t have mandated any improvements to a building as a result of the assessment, but property owners would have had to foot the bill for the EA which was estimated to be about $550. Houses that had an energy assessment in the past would not have been required to obtain a new one.
But the majority of the council questioned the effectiveness of the assessments in spurring improvements by property owners to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
They also questioned the value to the town of the data obtained through the assessments and had some concerns over making the assessment mandatory instead of better incentivizing the assessment opportunity.
Councilmembers Beth Goldstone and Gabi Prochaska disagreed with a staff point that those holding “primary vacation rental licenses” limiting rentals to 90 nights per year had less of an environmental impact than unlimited STR licensed buildings.
“A year-round occupied house that is sometimes rented out would have higher overall energy use than STRs,” said Prochaska. “I see the idea as a point of contact with the owners and an opportunity for the town to gather information. If buildings are the primary generator of greenhouse gasses, this would help us better understand the residential building category.”
“It is a touchpoint opportunity when people have business with the town,” added Goldstone. In response to a question from mayor Ian Billick, town manager Dara MacDonald said the assessment would primarily inform the property owner and help them understand how best to make improvements to their property.
“Is there any way to require an energy assessment at a point of sale?” asked Prochaska.
MacDonald said that idea was something the staff could investigate and talk about with the council in the future.
Public comment was against the proposed ordinance. Gerry Lund said while he agreed with the town objective, he felt the council has a bad view of who owns STR properties. “We’ve been here a long time and are trying to make finances work as expenses increase in town. I feel it’s an imposition on my rights,” he said. “If you are having trouble getting data, STR owners should not be coerced to do it for you. Don’t pass this. It’s not right.”
Haden Spencer agreed. “If you want data, you should get it from everybody,” she said. “There are a lot of people who have a license trying to generate income to offset increases in things like taxes and insurance. The $550 fee sounds like a lot. Plus, we wouldn’t want the data collected used in a punitive manner in the future.”
Candace Coen said she appreciated the initiative to collect information but didn’t think there was enough outreach to STR owners. “Have you asked STR owners if they have done an assessment? I did in 2013 and have since spent about $125,000 in improvements. I think this mischaracterizes people who own STRs,” she said. “Mine is small and it allows me to pay for improvements. STR owners are probably the most cognizant of utility bills in a property. It is more appropriate perhaps to look at long-term rentals where tenants pay the utilities.”
“I’m leaning against this even though I think STRs are commercial enterprises and have an unfair advantage compared to lodges,” said Billick. “For me, I’m not seeing a lot of town benefit. It is more for the owners. If the main benefit is for the property owner and they don’t want to do it anyway, there should be a better approach. There might be a better way for town to get data.”
“The town is gathering a lot of data already,” said councilmember John O’Neal. “We’re not doing all of our town-owned buildings, we are just getting a representative sample. I’m not in favor of requiring it for all STRs.”
“I agree and would rather see the $550 used to make efficiency improvements,” said councilmember Mallika Magner.
“I still like the idea of understanding the inventory, but can we do that with the data we’re getting,” said Prochaska. “For me it is how do we address greenhouse gas emissions in town. It’s about understanding residential impacts. But I’m leaning toward not supporting this.”
“The staff thinking is that energy assessments came out of the Climate Action Plan,” said Crested Butte sustainability coordinator Dannah Leeman Gore. “Town is creating data through programs like the Green Deed program but that’s only 60 houses. There are almost 200 of these STRs so it would increase the sample size significantly.”
Goldstone moved to approve the ordinance mandating the energy assessment requirement. Only she and councilmember Kent Cowherd voted in favor.
Billick thanked staff for the work and said it was part of the process in figuring out how to move forward.
