As Archuleta County interim Development Director Pamela Flowers wrapped up her presentation to the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday morning, she had presented data that depicted a vacation rental industry in Pagosa Springs, dominated by investors and second home owners who do not live in our community…
…and thus, should not be prioritized when developing policies to protect the health, safety and welfare of Archuleta County citizens.
Ms. Flowers:
“Questions that I think come out of this [data]…
“Who’s daily life is most impacted by Archuleta County’s Short-Term Rental policy? I think it’s the 14,000 residents who don’t own Short-Term Rentals here.
“Who’s interests should be our priority here? I think it’s the 14,000 residents who are the neighbors of the Short-Term Rentals we have in this county.
“And who is relying on us to hear their voices? Again, I think it’s the 14,000 residents who are trying to maintain a livable neighborhood and have a home here, all the time.
“So that’s the data I have to present to you. It’s the foundational context for the rest of the conversation. We’re working on additional data that will show the direct impact of these STRs on infrastructure and other things that impact us, the economy, and all that. But I wanted to point out, right now, it seems the County’s policy is unconstrained growth of the STR industry. There probably aren’t any other industries in the County where we would allow them to grow unconstrained.
“If we think about ‘What is the right level of control we need to put on this industry’ — that affects the residents who live here, because that’s who our primary interest group should be. So that’s my briefing. Do you have any questions about this?”
Commissioner Alvin Schaaf responded.
“I don’t have any questions. I just really appreciate the time you put into this, because I think this is something that’s going to continue to come up, and now we actually have some data that will help us, when we have to make these decisions.”
Commissioner Warren Brown said he would “reserve his questions.”
“I’m going to reserve my questions for right now, since the vote was just last month, and the decision was made, to this point in time. So I will reserve the question that I have.”
The “decision” to which Commissioner Brown refers was, of course, the BOCC’s decision to remove any reference to density caps for vacation rentals, when the BOCC adopted numerous amendments to the County Land Use Regulations last month — even though the County Planning Commission had recommended a 5% cap, per neighborhood.
Commissioner Ronnie Maez:
“Pam, I appreciate the hard work you put into this.”
Ms. Flowers:
“Okay. That’s it. I just wanted to start the data flow. So thanks for letting me take the time to do that.”
Over on Hot Springs Boulevard, a few hours later, the Pagosa Springs Town Council held a ‘partly-Zoom, partly-in-person’ meeting at Town Hall, and the topic of housing and vacation rentals dominated much of the conversation as the Council discussed the pending agenda for their annual retreat.
Like the BOCC, the Town Council has thus far declined to place any limits on the number of residential homes within their jurisdiction that would be allowed to be converted — by second home owners, or by investors from Texas, or Arizona, or Denver — into poorly-supervised mini-motels. And while vacation rental conversions have remained unconstrained here, real estate prices have skyrocketed and available inventory has dwindled — and the character of certain neighborhoods has been (forever?) changed.
Dozens of communities in Colorado have places stringent, or not-so-stringent, caps on the number and location of STRs. But thus far, not our leaders here in Pagosa.
I suspect two key reasons for the hesitation among Pagosa’s elected leaders.
1. A belief that unconstrained growth of the vacation rental industry will help produce unconstrained growth within the tourism industry, Pagosa’s second largest industry after the retirement-and-second-home industry.
2. A belief that government ought to honor private property rights whenever possible.
Let’s briefly consider the second belief just mentioned. Private property rights.
Back in 1692, the British Parliament handed down an ordinance aimed at protecting the English settlers living in the American colonies. It read, in part:
Because of the Great Desolation and Ruins having sundry times happened by Fire breaking out in the town of Boston, principally occasioned by reason of the nearness of Buildings, being mostly Timber, and covered with Shingles.
BE IT ORDAINED that henceforth, no Dwelling-House, Shop, Warehouse, Barn, Stable, or any other Housing of more than eight feet in length, and seven feet in Height, shall be erected and set up in Boston, but of Stone or Brick covered with Slate or Tile.
As far as I can tell, this was the first “Building Code” imposed upon English settlers by the British government.
For the settlers’ own protection.
We have progressed quite a ways beyond slate roofing since 1692, in terms of controlling how private property can be developed and used.
The Archuleta County Land Use Regulations document — which you can download here — consists of over 300 pages of such rules.
The Town’s Land Use and Development Code — which you can view online here — likewise consists of over 300 pages of rules.
Some of the rules established by our two local governments are obviously similar to the “Building Code” imposed on the town of Boston in 1692 — that is, they are rules meant to protect the health and safety of the residents. I suspect nearly everyone in Pagosa embraces the idea that our governments should help protect our health and safety.
As land use regulations have developed in the 330 years since, many land use codes have been aimed at preventing “nuisances” of various types.
The question before us, in 2021, might be phrased like this:
“Does the unconstrained conversion of residential homes into poorly-supervised mini-motels constitute a nuisance… worthy of government control?”
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.