Tipping the scales

A public hearing on short term rentals (STRs) at the August 13 meeting of the Saratoga Planning Commision saw fiery discussion from a packed crowd.

Many members of the public participated in the hearing, giving reasons both for and against regulation of STRs.

Discussion on this issue originally began in 2023, when the Planning Commission considered creating an ordinance to limit the number of STRs in Saratoga. The proposed ordinance was tabled after Town Attorney Kylie Waldrip raised concerns it would bring potential litigation against the town, claiming the Town of Jackson was facing legal battles regarding their STR legislation.

As reported on January 25, the Saratoga Sun was unable to find any evidence of litigation against STR regulations within Wyoming.

Emery Penner, Director of Public works, started the public hearing by reading a letter written by Dave Gloss and Susan Marich, owners of a STR in Saratoga.

“We have managed a portion of our home/property, located in Country Club Heights Subdivision, as a short term rental since 2018,” Penner read. “Our short term rental does not have a kitchen and therefore we feel the space is not conducive for a long term rental. We feel that providing short term rental has been a benefit to our community by providing lodging for visitors and workers [and] contributing to lodging taxes. ”

After Penner finished reading the letter, members of the public were given the opportunity to speak.

Joshua Wood, Operations Director of Stevenson Newspapers, spoke as a resident and as the manager of a business.

“As a business, I would say it has been difficult over the past couple of years to recruit and retain employees,” Wood said. “Because we don’t have firm numbers on how many short term rentals are operating within the municipal limits of Saratoga, it’s hard to see where we might stand on this. I think it’s important to have a process and ordinance for [STRs] so the Department of Public Works and Planning and Zoning can have an idea of how short term rentals are affecting [businesses].”

Antoinette Cleoni, owner of an STR, highlighted the benefits her business brings to Saratoga, while advocating the need of a balanced approach.

“I know people who have had nightly rentals and have taken them off the market so there’s constant ebb and flow in terms of what is available,” Cleoni said. “I do feel a little strongly about people who buy property in town as an investment and then not live here and use it as nightly rental. How do we find the balance in terms of meeting the needs of a tourist town that also has the needs of having employees?”

Steven Patrick, a member of the public, raised safety concerns regarding STRs.

“There’s an AirBnb right across from me…we live here for a reason and that’s because it’s a safe place for our children to be,” Patrick said. “On any given day, I never know who’s across the street from our house now. There’s evil people in this world and so my grandchildren are not allowed to play outside my house anymore.”

Mike Cooley, member of the Saratoga Town Council, suggested the controversy surrounding STRs was overblown.

“I would just like to point out AirBnbs are the low-hanging fruit here—that’s the easy thing to pick on,” Cooley said. “Eventually the free market, supply and demand, will take care of some of the AirBnbs. [The owners] will put them up for sale, make them long term rentals—there’s getting to be so many, not all of them can survive.”

Councilmember Kathy Beck also spoke, emphasizing the need to get statistics on the number of STRs in town limits.

Jason Campbell, representing the Wolf Hotel, discussed the issues with available workforce housing.

“We can’t hire people,” Campbell said. “My wife and I were speaking to Mr. Jennings at the school recently—there was a teacher that was hired last year who couldn’t move here because they couldn’t find a place to live. [Our business] was down 15% last year because I have to close two days a week because we don’t have enough staff. I can tell you, on a business with very tight margins, 15% puts you close to negative territory. There needs to be some kind of ordinance that helps us take control of our short term rental situation.”

Following the public hearing, the planning commission discussed what action should be taken on STRs.

“My thoughts on short term rentals is that they’re a business,” said McCall Burau, Chairwoman of the Saratoga Planning Commission. “The state of Wyoming taxes them like they’re hotels. The codes already exist that say if you want to do a special use, like renting a portion of your signal family dwelling, then you have to do the special use permit. I don’t think operating a business in residential [areas] is [a] private property right, that’s why there is zoning, and so they should have to do what the code says and get a special use permit.”

“We have everything on the books to have special uses for short term rentals,” said Commission Member Matt Baker.

Baker pointed to Saratoga municipal code 18.21.040—regarding RD 6000, covering medium density residential units—which says “The following uses may be permitted within this district only after review and approval by the planning commission in accordance with provisions of this title. The planning commission may place reasonable requirements upon the use prior to granting approval to insure that such a special use will not have a detrimental effect on the area in which it may be located:

…I.The renting of a portion of a single-family dwelling unit.”

He argued there is no need to create a definition of short term versus long term rental, as the language in the code just uses the word “renting.”

“Renting? That’s long term or short term. Portion? That’s any or all,” Baker said.

Burau said the existing code could serve as a starting point for further regulation, if needed. She said a housing study should be done to determine whether further ordinance is required.

“I just want compliance,” Baker said.

Discussion then turned to issues of enforcement.

“You’re going to have a job and a half if you’re going to find all the rentals in this town—long term, short term, half term, mid term, whatever—who’s going to do that?” asked Sue Jones, Chairwoman of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners. “You’re going to have to find every member of this town that is renting property.”

“If you open up that can of worms, [including long term rentals], the town council will say no, I’ll guarantee that,” said Saratoga Mayor Chuck Davis.

“The council can’t say no because it’s existing ordinance,” Burau said.

“Yes we can, we can amend that ordinance immediately,” C. Davis said. “If you include every rental in town, that’s almost ridiculous.”

Wyoming State Statute 15-1-115© reads “Every ordinance shall be publicly read on three (3) different days. Public reading may be by title only. At least ten (10) days shall elapse between the introduction and final passage of every ordinance. For an emergency ordinance, the requirements of this section may be suspended by the affirmative vote of three-fourths (3/4) of the qualified members of the governing body..”

An emergency ordinance is defined as “an ordinance operating for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare, in which the emergency is defined,” in Wyoming State Statute 15-1-101(a).

Baker said the task of enforcement should go to the Town Council and the Department of Public Works.

Bob Davis, Wyoming House District 47 Representative, said the Town of Saratoga should come up with a plan.

“I’ve heard of many different ways [to deal with this issue]—whatever you guys choose to implement, come with a plan forward,” B. Davis said. “You have home rule. Don’t wait for the state to set this because you’re not going to like what the state sets, because the state has 23 counties we have to look after. You have to protect that home rule.”

Home rule refers to the idea from the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which says the states retain all powers not granted to the federal government. On a municipal level, it is the delegation of power from the states to their counties and towns, which allows them to govern local affairs.

According to “Home Rule in Wyoming: A Municipal Offical’s Guide,” published by the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM), home rule can be used in issues of planning and zoning.

Burau raised the idea of potentially sending out a survey to residents to get their opinion on STRs.

“After this we are getting the same six things over and over again,” Penner said. “We need to know how many there are, we need them for tourism, we need congruent communities that aren’t transient, they’re taking our ability to find workers, they’re a business and need to pay the same taxes and we don’t want to get sued.”

Penner said a survey would increase the timeline for dealing with this issue.

Burau finished the meeting by saying the planning commission will hold a workshop to discuss enforcement and small steps the Town can take on regulating STRs.

The next Saratoga Planning Commission Meeting will be September 10 at 5:30 p.m. at the Saratoga Town Hall.