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Show Page 10 The Ogden Valley News Volume XXX Issue IV December 1, 2022 STRs cont. from page 1 • CVR-1 | Low-intensity commercial areas in OV • FR-3 | Forest residential, 3-acre minimum lot size to provide for medium density, multifamily residential housing in conjunction with major recreational resorts, recreation areas, & facilities in mountain areas. STRs are also legally allowed, currently, in planned residential unit developments (PRUD) as a conditional use in all forest, agricultural, and residential zones, as long as it was requested and approved at the time the PRUD was initially applied for and approved by the county. This is the case in developments such as The Bridges, Eden Escapes, Trappers Ridge, and The Fairways. As of November 16, no effective enforcement of STRS by Weber County has been implemented. Enforcement is by “complaint only,” which often creates a conflictual situation for neighboring residents. In addition, the county has an insufficient number of code enforcement officers to deal with the number of complaints being made; thus, illegal STRs are being allowed to function, even if one, or several, complaints have been made, or continue to be made. Other problems that haven’t been addressed include the following: • A number of realtors selling homes in areas where STRs are not legally allowed. In order to make a sell, a number of realtors are providing instructions to new buyers on how to get around the county’s 30-day minimum rental requirement. • Third-party scaping of websites (e.g., Airbnb, VRBO) can be used to identify where there are STR violations, but there is a cost associated with hiring such contractors to do this work. However, hiring such a contractor is not cost prohibitive. Garden City along Bear Lake has successfully contracted with a third-party contractor to scrape websites, find the illegal rentals being advertised, then use website reviews about illegal rentals, proving a rental actually occurred. Licensing fees and fines have been able to successfully cover the cost of these third-party scrapers. Background on Weber County STRs - In early 2021, the OV Planning Commission began working with county planning staff regarding various options to address a number of issues that were arising in association with the steeply increasing number of STRs in OV—both legal and illegal. They voted to recommend to the County Commission that they pass ordinances to limit STRs to the resort areas where they were already allowed, and to institute and adopt legal parameters for those wanting to legally obtain a CUP for an STR. These guidelines and conditional use permits would help ensure health and safety measures are being addressed, implemented, and followed. The recommendations were then sent to the three-member county commission, which failed to adopt the planning commission’s recommendations. Nor were the county commissioners willing to adopt any parameters. In response, illegal STRs have continued to increase in number with no guidelines or safety measures adopted by the county to ensure efficient, legal, or safe management of STRs in OV. On April 19, 2021, Commissioner Gage Froerer stated that development of a county STR ordinance would be put on hold due to misinformation circulating that the county intended to expand the areas allowing STRs. He reiterated that the intent of the county’s new STR ordinance would be for enforcement only—not expansion of STRs. In July 2022, only 39 STR licenses had been issued in all of unincorporated areas of Weber County. All but one of these licenses were for STRs in OV. The county’s current fee for an STR license is only $35 per year, which is inadequate to cover the administrative costs of management and enforcement. Conversely, other communities charge between $300 and $1,500 per year for an annual STR license. Also in July 2022, at least 1,089 dwelling units (single family, condo, townhome) in OV were in areas approved for STRs. This is 25+% of all dwelling units in OV. Thus, there are more than enough STRs available. Housing development plans currently on the table coming up for review and approval will add another 900+ more STR units in OV! Previously, between January 1, 2021 and February 1, 2022, there were 296 MLS sold listings for OV (zip codes 84310 & 84317), and 51% were for dwelling units residing in areas allowing STRs. Interestingly, the selling price of dwelling units sold in areas allowing STRs were significantly higher than those prices being paid in areas where they are not legally allowed (based on cost per sq. ft.). Thus, if you own a home in an area that allows STRs, the value comparables, from which your property taxes are based, could be substantially higher. Another interesting fact. Newly constructed STR dwelling unit prices increased 48% in just 8 months from January 1, 2021 to August 1, 2021. According to GRAMA Request #22-708, the Weber County Assessor’s office did not evaluate the selling prices of STR dwelling units to ensure these prices did not skew the 2022 home assessments for all primary home homeowners. The Pointe Condos in OV are now for sale and advertised as approved for nightly rentals. They are 805 to 1,600 sq. ft. in size with a cost of $430,000 to $710,000, or $458 to $534 per sq. ft. Communities Impacted by STRs - Last year, examples of communities where STR issues had a very significant impact on communities were sent to Weber County’s planning staff. This included communities such as Crested Butte, Moab, Springdale, Whitefish, Bozeman, North Las Vegas, Park City, Aspen, Garden City, and Ketchum. Several of these communities took very effective positive actions to address the multiple negative issues associated with STRs. Here is a sample of some of the effective strategies some communities chose to adopt: • Crested Butte – Contracted with a third-party contractor to scrape websites to find unlicensed STRs. They also increased licensing fees and fines for non-regulatory compliance and segregated where STRs were allowed. By doing so, they more than recovered the cost of the third-party contractor and had excess money, which was then used to subsidize moderate-income housing to retain essential workers in the community. • Park City – Restricted STRs to certain areas only, and are now looking at compensating homeowners in these areas to provide only long-term rentals to preserve the community and support affordable housing. • City of North Las Vegas used a thirdparty contractor to scrape websites to find unlicensed STRs; raised the cost of a STR licensing fees to $1,500 and increased noncompliance STR fines. • Springdale, Utah (also entrance to ZION National Park) lost significant hotel and retail shop revenue; homes previously used for retail businesses such as galleries, clothing shops, etc. have been turned into more lucrative STRs. Restaurants now lack sufficient staffing; thus, the mayor of Springdale issued an immediate halt to future STR licenses. • Moab, Utah (also near NPs) lost critical essential workers (police, fire, educators, healthcare workers, etc.) due to the dramatic increase in the cost of housing. A halt was placed on future STR licenses. • Ketchum, Idaho (Sun Valley) – The cost of housing escalated due to STRs to the point where even the mayor could no longer afford to live in the city. • Whitefish, Montana – Near the entrance to Glacier NP, and home to a medium-sized ski area. Fewer ski lifts operational due to a lack of employees. They are starting to lose essential workers due to increased housing costs spurred by STRs. Whitefish’s size and population is almost equal to OV’s. Concerns Regarding Weber County’s Current Draft STR Ordinance - Weber County commissioners are currently considering adopting a new STR ordinance that would allow STRs in all land use zones in Ogden Valley. With this in mind, have the commissioners: • Given any consideration to the negative consequences experienced by other communities that failed to rein in STRs, or the benefits generated by those who successfully did so? • Considered the impact on the property rights of Valley residents who specifically purchased or built a home in a land use zone that didn’t allow STRs at the time, since they wanted to live in a “community” and not just in a commercial neighborhood providing housing for transients? • Considered the impact allowing STRs Valley wide would have on tax valuations? And especially how it will negatively impact Valley residents on fixed incomes, or those whose budgets are already stretched while trying to raise a young family and already dealing with inflationary cycles? • Considered the extensive community input that was submitted to the county between 2020 and 2021 that overwhelmingly discouraged the expansion of STRs in OV? • Considered that the expansion of STRs decreases primary housing stock; thus, drives up housing prices and property taxes, and contributes to a loss of “community” and community identity, and the web of networks that support strong and healthy communities and their schools and civil networks that are needed to build strong and stable cities and towns? Next Steps for a New OV STR Ordinance • A new STR ordinance will be presented to the OV Planning Commission for review and recommendation for action to be taken by the commissioners—most likely towards the end of December 2022 or the beginning of January 2023. Contact your Weber County Commissioners and let them know of your desires regarding this new ordinance, and what you’d like it to look like. • If you’d like limits on STRs in OV, please sign the petition that can be found at Valley Market in Eden. Fractional Ownership Now in OV - A Huntsville home was recently advertised for sale online, encouraging fractional ownership. Fractional ownership is a way that individuals can purchase a property, doing so jointly with other people. Those who engage in this activity, agree to ownership of only a percentage of the property, and are limited to the specific amount of time in which they can use it each year. It is similar to a time share arrangement, except it is usually used with higher-end properties, with the property being owned by a company (usually an LLC). Since the “company” owns the property, this practice is legally set up with the company as the primary owner. Thus, while no single, primary resident resides in the home full time, the multiple owners still claim the subsidized “primary resident” property tax subsidy allowed by Utah state law, which is offered to primary residents. It is another practice that raises local taxes to the level of commercial properties, which then tends to drive out full-time residents from the community, who can’t compete with commercial interests. A guest editorial in Park City’s newspaper The Park Record, states, “Fractional ownership… is nothing new and such ventures are well established in many areas of Utah and are mostly clustered near resorts. Fractional ownership is allowed at many condominium and vacation club projects in Utah that currently serve a certain clientele consisting of mostly vacationers and investors. “However, there are now companies trying to establish fractional ownership in existing singlefamily home neighborhoods, many of which that expressly prohibit STRs in order to preserve their community environment. Seemingly most active in this arena is Pacaso, a San Francisco-based corporation. Pacaso is currently purchasing homes in desirable locations throughout Summit County and Utah…. “If this practice is allowed in primarily singlefamily home communities, it can only produce negative impacts for the residents and will change the very nature of our neighborhoods. In my view, this practice should only be allowed in areas already zoned for fractional ownership of some sort.” Note: Most of the material for this article was provided by Jan Fullmer of Eden. 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