Starting at 6:00 p.m. on October 18, the Salida City Council will host a work session where they will discuss short-term rental policy amendments. On October 5 City Council adopted Ordinance 2021-15 regarding new short-term rental (STR) policies related to (among other things) Chaffee County residency requirements, area-specific caps on licenses, and limits to the number of licenses permitted on any one lot.
Council directed staff to develop additional options to consider for the residency requirements, including allowing for the “prioritization” of residency, as well as other considerations regarding the number of licenses permitted on any one lot.
Council members wore masks to “lead by example.” Image taken during August 4 regular meeting.
Staff has looked at a variety of methods that could be used to give priority to Chaffee County residents for STR licenses, while still allowing for some licenses for out-of-county residents. The existing policy plus two prioritization options are the following:
Option one: Restrict all-new STR licenses exclusively to City of Salida residents (as the language currently reads and with the exceptions already provided). Area-specific caps on the total number of licenses would still apply.
Image courtesy of the City of Salida.
Option two: Separate all new licenses into two “baskets” where up to 75 percent of all new licenses would be available to Chaffee County residents and up to 25 percent of all new licenses would be available to out-of-county residents (this proportion would apply to all new licenses across the city: both residential and non-residential). Area-specific caps on the total number of licenses would still apply.
Staff would also recommend capping the number of STR licenses available in the residential area at the current number of 75, to maintain consistency of calculations for issuing licenses
Option three: Create a Chaffee County resident-prioritization model where Chaffee County residents would be “elevated” to the top of the list for licenses. Out-of-county residents would only be eligible to apply for a license in a particular STR area if there were no county residents on the list. Area-specific caps on the total number of licenses would still apply.
Salida City 2022 Budget
Council will discuss the three options which would amend Ordinance 2021-15. Also on the agenda is the 2022 budget update packet.
Recently, Chaffee County and Airport management submitted their 2022 budget request for $195,000 which is $95,000 higher than anticipated in the originally proposed budget. The $195,000 funding level will be matched by Chaffee County and airport generated revenues and will allow the Airport to accomplish several important projects in 2022:
- Pave access roads.
- Relocation of the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS)
- Purchase of the Hangar adjacent to the Terminal
- Expand the ANKshop
Airport staff says that to increase safety and meet the demand for service, the airport has identified several long-term projects that will mostly be funded with grants. But it cautions that the City should anticipate needing to continue supporting the airport in the future until such time that Airport generated revenues make this important community amenity sustainable without our support.
Council will review the draft slide deck of the proposed budget prior to their regular meeting on October 19 where they will host a public hearing on the budget.
City Council meetings continue to allow in-person attendance, primarily for purposes of conducting public hearings. The city still requests that those wishing to testify should plan to do so via the GoToWebinar platform or by email or letter.
Anyone who is unvaccinated and who wants to provide testimony must wear a face mask and remain at least six feet away from others both inside and outside of the Council Chambers.’
Click here to watch the meeting virtually.
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