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Silverthorne puts new regulations on short-term rentals

A popular tourist destination, Silverthorne enacted new regulations on the short-term vacation rentals operating in town on Tuesday.
Eli Pace / epace@summitdaily.com

Silverthorne became the latest Summit County government to enact tighter regulations on short-term rentals with town council approving a series of new rules Tuesday on second reading.

Included in them are occupancy caps and the requirement “a responsible agent” be able to address complaints within one hour 24/7, unless a complaint comes in between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., at which time the agent will have only 30 minutes to address the issue. Multiple failures to do so could result in an owner losing their licenses for two years.

The town is also creating a new licensing process that requires each rental to secure a unique business license, rather than allowing multiple properties to operate under a single license. Rentals will also have to post those license numbers in all their advertisements. According to the town, this helps identify properties that have not obtained the proper license and are not remitting the proper sales and lodging taxes back to the town.



There will also be new fees, ranging from $100-$300 based on the number of bedrooms inside the rental. The new fee structure isn’t designed to make money, only cover the town’s costs of administering the program, officials said.

Occupancy caps have been one major point of contention as individual governments across Summit County have sought to better regulate short-term rentals recently. Silverthorne hasn’t shied away for them, opting to limit short-term rentals to two guests per bedroom plus two. That means a four-bedroom home can sleep at most 10 people. The number of bedrooms inside a rental will be determined by information on file at the Summit County Assessor’s Office.



The towns and the county have working together closely as they each look to better regulate the booming industry in their jurisdictions. Together, they plan to set up a 24-hour countywide call center so people can phone in complaints about short-term rentals across the county. A designated “responsible agent” would then have to address those complaints within a specific timeframe or face penalties.

In many ways, Silverthorne’s ordinance runs parallel to others already enacted or in currently the works across the county. However, Silverthorne is the only one so far to give agents a 30-minute window to address overnight complaints.

Other provisions speak to health and safety standards and potential inspections.

Like the listings seen on Airbnb.com and VRBO.com, a short-term rental is defined by Silverthorne as any home — or any room inside a home — that’s available for rent for a term of less than 30 consecutive days. According to town officials, hundreds are currently operating inside Silverthorne. The goal is to get all of them kicked over to the new licenses by the New Year.


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