As of March 2023, Pagosa Springs might not be one of the best places to invest in a vacation home, even though it was listed on the Vacasa website in 2021, as one of the “top 25 places” in the United States to sink your money… with an attractive ‘cap rate’ of 4.3%.
Part of the reason for that attractive cap rate may have been the lack of County regulations. Most Colorado resort towns have put Short Term Rental (STR) density caps and fees in place during the past few years… and the Town of Pagosa Springs has done so, but Archuleta County has not.
And most of the STRs in our community are located within the unincorporated county.
Pagosa Springs fell off Vacasa’s “25 Best” list in 2022. All of the 2022 “Best Places” exhibited a cap rate of at least 6.3%. Sorry, Pagosa.
Part of the reason for the change? An apparent intention, among the three Archuleta commissioners, perhaps… to approve some new STR regulations in the near future?
While considering those new regulations, the Board of County Commissioners have had a moratorium in place in September, prohibiting the approval of new STR licenses — until some new policies were decided upon. That moratorium expired on March 1 (according to my reckoning) but it appears the BOCC might extend the moratorium until at least June.
That decision might be made at tomorrow’s 1:30pm regular meeting at the County administration offices, 398 Lewis Street.
From the meeting agenda:
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ARCHULETA COUNTY, COLORADO, EXTENDING THE MORATORIUM ON THE SUBMISSION, ACCEPTANCE,
PROCESSING AND APPROVAL OF ANY APPLICATION FOR A PERMIT OR OTHER LAND USE APPROVAL RELATED TO THE OPERATION OF A VACATION RENTAL IN UNINCORPORATED ARCHULETA COUNTY
WHEREAS, on July 19, 2022, the Board of County Commissioners of Archuleta County, Colorado (the “Board”) adopted Resolution 2022-75 (the “Resolution”) which adopted an interim moratorium for the submission of applications for vacation rental permits, which went into effect on September 1, 2022 (the “Moratorium”); and,
WHEREAS, since that time, the county manager has sought input from citizen’s groups on how best to regulate vacation rentals; and,
WHEREAS, additional time is needed for county staff to more thoroughly investigate the relevant issues and develop any additional appropriate regulations related thereto;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ARCHULETA COUNTY, COLORADO THAT:
Section 1: The Moratorium, adopted on July 19, 2022, is hereby extended for an additional three months and shall continue until the first regular meeting of the Board scheduled for July 5, 2023, at which time the Board will consider whether another extension of the Moratorium is warranted.
Section 2: This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon adoption.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS 14th DAY OF MARCH, 2023.
The BOCC does not typically accept public comment when considering ‘resolutions’… but the agenda includes an opportunity for public comments at the start of the 1:30pm meeting.