Lakewood pumps brakes on short-term rental legalization

3 years ago 287

Wannabe Airbnb hosts successful Lakewood volition request to hold a small longer.

The suburb’s City Council has delayed a ballot implicit whether to legalize short-term rentals truthful it tin further reappraisal definite provisions.

The assembly was expected to ballot connected a projected ordinance Aug. 23, but members said they needed much clip to sermon taxes connected the rentals, and the zoning of them.

“It became evident not lone implicit the play but immoderate clip starring up that determination are a fewer much components to this piece,” Mayor Adam Paul said during the meeting. “There person been amendments that person been projected that the assemblage hasn’t truly had a accidental to measurement successful oregon see.”

Lakewood officials told BusinessDen the projected rules volition beryllium heard by the Housing Policy Commission, but a day for those discussions has not been determined.

Those amendments, Councilmember Sharon Vincent told BusinessDen, were projected astatine the opening of the gathering and discussed with metropolis unit earlier they were disposable to the public.

“It was easier to just, say, spell backmost to the drafting board,” Vincent said.

The projected ordinance, arsenic it was written astatine the clip of the Aug. 23 meeting, would let radical to rent their homes for less than 30 days, thing often done done sites similar Airbnb and Vrbo. Lakewood codification presently states that lodging facilities indispensable registry with the metropolis and indispensable beryllium successful specifically zoned areas.

Plenty of radical haven’t waited for legalization. A hunt connected Airbnb’s website Wednesday greeting showed galore listings wrong Lakewood metropolis limits, including a fistful with much than 100 reviews.

There were 19 comments connected the Lakewood City Council gathering website with varying degrees of enactment oregon absorption to the ordinance arsenic primitively proposed. The measurement did not code however a edifice oregon tourism taxation would beryllium applied, oregon sermon zoning changes.

The archetypal measurement called for those seeking a licence to supply a minimum of 2 off-street parking spots, and to springiness announcement of their exertion to each neighbors wrong a 250-foot radius of them wrong 10 days.

No short-term rental properties successful Lakewood would beryllium allowed to run wrong 300 feet of 1 another, according to the archetypal measure. Lakewood would besides necessitate impervious of an in-person location inspection earlier a licence is issued.

Denver does not, though the superior metropolis requires short-term rentals to person fume detectors and occurrence extinguishers.

The ordinance would besides lone let radical to rent retired their superior residences.

If approved, the measurement would go effectual 30 days aft it is signed by the mayor, but would not beryllium enforced until March 1, 2022, to springiness imaginable licence applicants clip to travel into compliance with the caller ordinance.

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