Project Update #10: 11/21/22

At the November 17, 2022 Regular City Council Meeting, Council voted to approve Ordinance #1431 as amended, an ordinance amending Titles 5 and 18 of the Woodland Park municipal code to license and regulate short-term rentals in Woodland Park.

View Amended Ordinance #1431(PDF)

We encourage you to read through the full ordinance, but have provided a short overview of it below.

Fundamentally, this ordinance will:

• Require all short-term rental owners to apply for and procure a Short-term Rental Business License. (See Section 2 of the ordinance.)
• Allow licensed short-term rentals to operate in the following zones (provided they meet the requirements outlined in ordinance): Suburban Residential, Urban Residential, Agricultural, Neighborhood Commercial, Community Commercial, Service Commercial, Central Business District, and Planned Unit Development. (See Section 5 of the ordinance.) If you aren't sure what zone your property is in, refer to the Zoning Map(PDF).
• Establish standards for short-term rentals, to include providing designated parking and occupancy limits of two (2) people per legal bedroom plus two (2) additional people. (See Section 6 of the ordinance.)
• Allow existing short-term rentals in the Multi-Family Residential Suburban and Multi-Family Residential Urban Zones and anyone who purchased property in these zone districts in 2022, prior to November 17, 2022 to apply for a Short-term Rental Business License. (See Section 7 of the ordinance.)
• Require short-term rental owners to have a designated local contact person to ensure compliance with rules included in the ordinance and Good Neighbor Guidelines established by the City. (See 5.22.020, under Section 2 of the ordinance.)
• Allow Short-term Rental Business Licenses to be suspended or revoked by the City Council, after conducting a public hearing, for reasons outlined in the municipal code. (See 5.22.040, under Section 2 of the ordinance.)

Please read Ordinance #1431 to understand the full scope of the ordinance.

What's Next?

• The moratorium on licenses for short-term rentals remains in effect until December 15. City Council will hear an ordinance to extend the moratorium at their upcoming December 1, 2022 Regular City Council meeting. The purpose of the moratorium extension would be to ensure a licensing structure and processes are in place to accept applications.
• Future review of STR regulations. Within this ordinance, Council has included a provision for a future review of the regulations. Section 9 of the ordinance states "Within twelve to eighteen months from the effective date of this Ordinance, the Planning Commission shall revisit the City’s short-term rental regulations. During that timeframe, the City shall direct an update to its most recent housing needs assessment, and shall have a short-term rental economic impact study conducted. Additionally, the City Police and Code Enforcement departments shall capture twelve months of data regarding calls for service or complaints of crime or nuisance at short-term rental unit properties. Once all data is collected and both studies have been completed, the Planning Commission will review and analyze same to make recommendations to City Council regarding whether amendments to the City’s short-term rental regulations are required."

We appreciate your patience as City staff work to implement the changes outlined in the ordinance. We will continue to provide updates via email and the City website. When the City is ready to accept short-term rental applications, we will publicize it widely.