The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
No limit on STR numbers, no property inspection requirements
by Katherine Nettles
Gunnison County has approved an amendment to its Land Use Resolution (LUR) to incorporate a new short-term (STR) licensing program. The licensing process has been an ongoing effort from staff for the past year, and county commissioners identified it as a goal in the county’s strategic plan to be complete by the end of 2026.
The program will take effect January 1, 2027, and licenses will cost $150 and must be renewed every three years. This is meant to cover the administrative costs of tracking and issuing licenses, as well as verifying applicant information using county files. This may include checking for active code violations, verifying the number of permitted legal bedrooms and checking the capacity of septic systems, according to the staff memo accompanying the resolution.
The new program does not limit the number of licenses or require property inspections for STRs in unincorporated Gunnison County, however individual properties are subject to their own municipality or private covenant restrictions where applicable.
There was an initial effort to create the licensing program including a public hearing last spring, but that was delayed for several months.
The community development department staff informed commissioners they needed to delay the program rollout to get through the busy summer building season, address questions on how to implement the program and focus on onboarding a new assistant county manager for the community and economic development department.
Hillary Seminick, principal planner with the community and economic development department, presented the updated draft amendment to county commissioners during their regular meeting on Tuesday, October 6. The amendment to the LUR was based on several conversations with commissioners, concerns brought up during a public hearing in April 2026 and similar programs within other Colorado communities.
Seminick reviewed several issues identified previously, including how to incorporate Colorado account numbers to track tax collections on local short-term listings while protecting privacy, how to apply regulations to mixed-use properties, how the licensing program would impact existing short-term rentals, owner/agent response windows and how to allow a grace period for compliance with the new regulations.
Staff investigated these issues, and Seminick presented their findings. First, she said the county can require the state account number in the application for STR licenses and track the tax information internally without sharing it publicly. She said there would be no impacts to existing bookings if they were not advertising higher occupancy than allowed by the property’s onsite wastewater treatment system. Staff recommended that units that were approved and assessed as residential structures on mixed-use properties comply with STR regulations for any STR listings, as in other counties, but exemptions for hotels, lodges, B&Bs etc. and long-term rentals would remain. Home exchanges or house sitting will not apply to the program either. Staff also recommended agent response to any STR complaints within 24 hours, and a one-time grace period of 30 days for properties to obtain a license. The process does not include any property inspections but requires compliance with applicable county regulations.
Commissioners discussed the recommendations at length on Tuesday and made some minor changes, including the language around the response window of “within 24 hours.” They passed the motion unanimously, with commissioner Jonathan Houck absent.
Commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels thanked the community development staff for their research across other communities, their analysis of the county’s LUR codes and various particular use cases. “I really appreciate all you guys have done to get us here today,” she said.
Staff will take the next three months to convey information about the new program requirements to the public, with the regulations taking effect in January. The county newsletter will include updates, as will the county website under Community and Economic Development.
