I’ve seen several letters lambasting the County Manager’s creation of the Archuleta County STR (Short Term Rental) Task Force. I am a member of that task force and would like to put forth relevant information about what we have been doing since our first meeting in September. This letter is from me, not the task force.
The task force has been meeting at least every two weeks since September, plus additional subgroup meetings because the workload became more complex and voluminous than we were able to address in our biweekly two-hour meetings. To date, approximately 595 volunteer hours have been dedicated by this group of twelve members.
The group, volunteers generated by the County Manager’s solicitation via an ad in the local paper, represents cross sections of the community: affordable housing, retired resident, nonresident, STR neighbors, STR owner, school district, realtor, retail, HOA board, restaurant industry, tourism board, and STR property management. The twelve volunteers also bring expertise in many areas: accounting, IT, mathematics/AI, small business, policy development, technical writing, and the like. Because of our diversity and STR emotional nature, it has been a rewarding and productive challenge.
We have received and analyzed data from the County and other relevant third parties. Our initial focus has been to document the various STR related processes and provide recommendations to changes to the current rules and regulations hoping to reduce County costs and address major concerns regarding STR’s impact on our communities while preserving the tax revenue stream that they provide.
Our work output, barring any unforeseen circumstances, will be submitted to the County Manager and published to the public within four to five weeks before the current STR moratorium ends. Thereafter, we plan to continue to work together in any way that we can to help provide input on this dynamically sensitive issue that impacts every cross section of the community.
I sincerely hope this clears up some of the misinformation and concerns that have been presented to your publication.
Anne Salemo
Littleton, CO