YOUR AD HERE »

Letter to the editor: Breckenridge should have paused short-term rental cap decision

Dave Bauman
Keystone

I was at last Tuesday’s Breckenridge Town Council meeting, and there was a lot of emotion on both sides of the issue. It was clear that both sides love their town and want what they feel is a fair solution. I am shocked that the council approved the cap with such overwhelming opposition. The opinion of those opposed was that the measure was not based on factual data and that more time was needed to research the issue before far-reaching measures with potential irreparable property value damage was taken against one group of property owners.

A comment made by a longtime local short-term rental owner was that the town government was “imposing a deed restriction without compensation,” and multiple owners stated that the cap favored exempt corporate ownership over locals and second-home owners. Almost all the speakers in opposition pleaded with the Town Council to pause on the decision until more data could be gathered.

Instead, the council rushed this measure through without care for the rights of their constituents. They based their decision with no factual data showing that short-term rental caps would have any desired effect on the affordable housing crisis or conversion of short-term rentals to long-term rentals, which was supposedly the objective of the proposed measure.



The primary reason that most short-term rental owners in attendance purchased homes was to help them offset the high cost of homeownership in the county paired with the ability to enjoy the home periodically with friends and family. The logical and fair decision would have been to postpone so that more information could be gathered and an economic impact study performed. I am saddened by the loss of rights imposed on my neighbors. Go to SummitCountyLandlords.com to share ideas and support each other.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.

Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.

Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.