Short-term rental regulations fail to pass in CB South

Majority voted in favor but not enough votes total 

By Katherine Nettles

The multi-week vote for short-term rental regulations (STRs) in the Crested Butte South Property Owner’s Association (POA) closed last week with votes falling short to pass covenant changes that would have established a STR licensing and limit system for the largest subdivision in the North Valley. 

The covenant changes proposed were the result of an extensive subcommittee process with the POA board over several years. The changes would have established two types of annual Short-Term Rental licenses: full STR licenses and primary occupancy STR licenses. A vote in favor would have allowed properties with a full STR license to be rented for less than 30 days for an unlimited number of occasions, annually. It would have put a cap on the number of such licenses at 20% of the total dwelling units in Crested Butte South, as determined annually by the POA board of directors prior to the STR application deadline. 

The primary occupancy STR licenses would have been for those who reside in their dwelling unit as their primary residence and would have placed a cap of 60 short-term rental nights per year on such units with no limit on the number of that type of license. 

The vote was held electronically from November 4 through 20, with each property owner household getting one vote. To amend a covenant, the membership must approve it by a 50%+1 vote of all eligible voters.

In a letter on Thursday, November 21, the POA shared the full vote results. “We ended up with 73% of the membership voting (686 out of 939 eligible votes) with 410 votes for and 276 votes against, which is about a 61% to 39% ratio. While overwhelmingly the votes came in favor of the covenant change, the threshold of greater than 50% of eligible voters voting in favor was not reached,” it stated.

As a result of the vote, the covenants in addressing STRs in CB South remain unchanged, with no limits or caps on STRs in the subdivision. This means every developed property (excluding vacant lots) can short-term rent part or all of their property throughout the year with a license obtained through the CB South POA.

“While this part of the STR Committee process did not move forward, there have been new regulations adopted by the Board of Directors to create better clarity, minimize impacts of STRs upon neighbors and others still to be discussed and voted on with the intent of having licensing fees covering the cost of management of STRs within the community,” according to the POA letter.

The covenants state that owners renting their properties as STRs are required to comply with any policy adopted by the POA board, including posting contact information on the exterior of the unit for a property manager or person appointed by the owner who can respond to any rental issues within 60 minutes of contact.