STR permit appears to be DOA

It appears any progress on potential regulations for short term rentals, or STRS, in Saratoga is stalled for the foreseeable future. A decision to table a special use permit was made by the Saratoga Planning Commission on October 10.

The decision came following suggestions from Kylie Waldrip, legal counsel for the Town of Saratoga, who advised the planning commission to let Jackson “have the fight.”

Government Overreach

The discussion over whether the Town of Saratoga should regulate short term rentals has been one held by the planning commission for more than a year. A draft permit had been sent to Waldrip for review and a lengthy discussion was held at the September 12 meeting of the planning commission. The draft of the document was made available on October 10, with Waldrip in attendance to “be the bearer of not great news.”

“The restriction of short term rentals is a hot button issue right now in all legal communities. Everybody’s addressing it, we’re seeing where it’s going. There is proposed legislation in Wyoming right now. We haven’t seen what’s going to come of that,” said Waldrip. “Jackson is spearheading this issue. They’re the first ones to put ordinances in effect restricting short term rentals. We’re kind of all waiting to see what they come up with and how those legal battles turn out.”

The Town of Jackson already has a section of their municipal code which regulates and defines short term rentals. Earlier this year, however, they passed an ordinance which would limit the number of STRs to three per year in neighborhoods which would attempt to close a loophole from 2007 which allowed people to offer 12 short term rentals a year. While the ordinance passed in May, it isn’t scheduled to go into effect until January 1, 2024 (“Jackson Town Council overhauls short term rental regs” May 3, 2023, Jackson Hole News & Guide).

Waldrip told the planning commission she believed the proposed permit was too stringent, presenting potential litigation issues for the Town of Saratoga.

“This proposed permit, I think, is way overreaching,” said Waldrip. “I don’t think any of those are going to apply, the vast majority are not going to apply.”

The draft document limited the maximum number of STR permits to 50 per year, stipulated the owner must be a Saratoga resident and barred short term rentals from residential zones RD 7200 and RD 14000. Other requirements included notice to customers of the Town of Saratoga’s noise, trash and parking regulations and notification to neighbors within 140 feet of the property in residential zones.

“Any restrictions on property owners have to be substantiated by something and they have to be reasonable. When I ask, I don’t think we have a list of complaints, citations, dispatch calls. Anything that says we are being bombarded with noise complaints only from these short term rentals,” said Waldrip. “If we had some hard, documented evidence that this is a problem and its only short term rentals, maybe we could do that. Just coming up with what I assume are anticipated issues without substantiated claims, I think this exposes the Town to multiple lawsuits in multiple areas right off the bat.”

Zoning Out

Chairman McCall Burau asked Waldrip if the Town of Saratoga could limit short term rentals to specific zoning districts within the municipality.

“That is one of the (things) that Jackson did is it’s a specific zone for certain days,” said Waldrip. “That is one I think we could try, but I don’t know that we want to try it now.”

The ordinance which passed in May would only apply the three STR limit to residential neighborhoods outside the Town of Jackson’s lodging overlay and Snow King Resort District. Additionally, homeowners wanting to offer short term rentals in residential neighborhoods would need to notify neighbors within 200 feet of their property.

“It’s already included in our code, in the way that it says you can’t use your home for lodging or hotel purposes as a way to make money, that’s already in our code,” said Burau. “We’ve just never enforced it.”

There are few mentions of lodging in Saratoga’s municipal code with most mentions discussing permitted uses in the retail business, highway business, and ranching and agriculture districts. Under section 18.06.120, however, lodging is mentioned when defining “dwelling.” According to the section a dwelling is defined as a building designed only for residential purposes for single-family to multiple-family uses “but not including hotels, boarding and lodging houses.”

“We have that in there but, with short term rentals, the argument is it’s interfering with a private contract between who I decided to rent my house to. We don’t interfere with one year leases, five year leases,” said Waldrip. “That’s nobody’s business who I rent my house to. Is it lodging or is it a rental and it’s none of your business who I’m renting it to?”

Burau made the argument that the State of Wyoming had essentially defined lodging in that it included any property which collected lodging tax. Companies such as AirBNB and VRBO collect lodging tax on behalf of the property owner and remit it to the State of Wyoming.

“I just think anything we try to define to clarify that right now will just open the Town up to that battle,” said Waldrip. “Anything trying to clarify ‘This is what we mean as a short term and this is what we mean as a long term’ is going to open up the Town to possible lawsuits on that issue.”

Going Commercial

Saratoga resident James “Jimmy” Campbell expressed his concerns regarding Waldrip’s recommendations, pointing out that while waiting for either a legal ruling or a state statute the amount of STRs in Saratoga could continue to grow.

“What about commercial utilities on somebody that’s paying lodging tax?” said Campbell.

Under Saratoga Municipal Code, both residential and commercial properties pay the same rate for water service with a base rate depending on meter size and a charge per thousands of gallons of water used each month. Sewer rates for residential properties, meanwhile, are $22.75 per month while commercial properties are $28.14 per month.

The Upper Platte River Solid Waste Disposal District, which is separate from the Town of Saratoga, charges $35 per month for households conducting business from a residence and a minimum of $38 per month for commercial rates. The residential fee, meanwhile, is $24 per month.

“You’re saying don’t open that can of worms,” said Campbell. “You’re saying let them go free for a couple of years.”

“My suggestion is that we don’t take on the fight. That’s hundreds of thousands of Town dollars on litigation fees over this issue, which will be determined by somebody else,” said Waldrip. “Probably, at this point, Jackson beats us to it anyway because they’re already going down that path. It’s a waste of money at this time to do it.”

Members of the planning commission appeared to agree it would be best to wait for guidance either through a court decision or approved legislation. Though, even if that wasn’t the case, Mayor Chuck Davis made clear his goal was to keep the Town of Saratoga clear of litigation.

“I can’t speak for each council member, but I do know that as the mayor I would take her (Waldrip’s) recommendation very highly,” said Davis. “I would push the council not to get involved with this, even if we got a recommendation from the planning commission.”

A motion to table the draft short term rental permit passed unanimously.

The next meeting of the Saratoga Planning Commission will be November 14 at 5:30 p.m. at Saratoga Town Hall.