The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
STR ordinance
The Mt. Crested Butte town council approved the second reading of a revised short-term rental (STR) ordinance during their February 7 meeting. One of the changes included removing the requirement for homeowner association approval. Town clerk Tiffany O’Connell explained that very few HOAs keep track and have no legal basis to deny STRs in their complex unless it’s not allowed in their HOA declaration. She further stated that the HOA does have to approve the STR’s parking plan in the application, and the applicant is required to put the maximum number of occupants their place sleeps and the number of cars allowed in the parking plan.
Councilmember Roman Kolodziej requested town staff update the STR affidavit to include the number of people the unit sleeps in addition to the maximum number of people the unit is allowed to sleep per HOA covenants.
Old police pension fund terminated
The council approved a resolution to repeal and terminate the town’s police pension fund. The town has had a police pension fund on its books since the 1980s that has never been used, and at the instruction of the town’s auditor town staff is working on dissolving it. Town clerk Tiffany O’Connell explained that staff has not been able to find any active beneficiaries of the fund.
Delinquent trash fee collections
The council approved the first reading of an ordinance updating the process for collecting delinquent trash fees. The ordinance updates the code so that when an account is severely delinquent, a special assessment will be placed on the property with the County that will then be processed, collected, and remitted to the Town by the County along with property taxes.
Historically, “When a homeowner is delinquent in paying their trash bill, they receive multiple notifications from the Town,” said deputy finance director Emily Sharan in a memo to the council. “If compliance is not achieved after an extended period of time, typically after a year if delinquency, a lien is placed on the property with the County Clerk and Recorder. When the property is sold, the seller is required to settle any liens before completion of the sale. It is at this point when the Town will recover any past-due balances on the account. For homeowners that do not intend to sell their property, the current process allows for balances to accumulate in amounts of well over a thousand dollars. This is not sustainable for either the homeowner or the Town.”
The update to the code ensures the town receives the past due funds, and the County will be responsible for collections. The ordinance will also update the code to reflect the current standard container size of Waste Management’s current 96 gallons standard, instead of the previous 32 gallons stated in the code.
