After a unanimous decision by Aspen City Council on Wednesday to pause short-term rental permits until Sept. 30, 2022, rental managers are no longer able to obtain new permits from the city.
For managers who have a 2021 license in their hands or are already in the application pipeline, business can continue as normal. For those who don’t, permits will not be available until the city ends the moratorium. Regardless of status, management companies as well as individuals who run STRs out of their own homes say they want to be included in the city’s conversations over the next six months, during which time officials will examine the land-use code and the future of vacation rentals in Aspen.
“While we support city council’s overarching goal to protect the character of the community, we’d like to see them use thoughtful tactics — like zoning and meaningful enforcement — to make that happen,” said Alex L’Arbre, marketing director of Frias Properties of Aspen. “We will be participating in the public comment forums as council starts to shape policy, and we hope we can lend our experience as tenured vacation rental managers.”
Frias operates a significant number of vacation rentals in town, and L’Arbre said that all of them are up to date on licenses and will not be directly impacted by the pause throughout the winter and summer.
Homeowners who want STR permits so they can rent out their free-market homes as they please will be in the same boat, so long as they have a 2021 permit. Local Associate Broker Joshua Landis said many of his clients purchase homes in neighborhoods that allow STRs and therefore purchased the right to run a vacation rental, and now they fear having that right taken away.
“There’s not a realtor in town who didn’t help 10 of their clients yesterday barrel through the process,” Landis said, referring to efforts to obtain permits before Wednesday’s cutoff before the moratorium took effect. “If it’s a property right, that shouldn’t be denied by council. That’s a right that should run with the property. Again, if they’re gonna change it to a business-to-consumer model, they should look at how many licenses one person should be allowed to have.”
Landis — who privately runs an STR of his own and has a valid permit for the duration of the moratorium — said that renting a vacation rental should be a consumer-to-consumer business model like Uber, where one individual provides a service to another. But vacation rental companies are running a business-to-consumer model, he said, where the renter may not always know exactly who they’re renting from, and those companies are more of a disruptor to the community than individual homeowners.
Landis also spoke during public comment on Wednesday night to ask the council to table the ordinance. He also called out Councilmember Skippy Mesirow — though not by name — who serves as the local location manager for SkyRun Aspen, a vacation rental company that works with second homeowners to offer STRs across the country, including two within Aspen city limits.
Mesirow has spoken publicly about his decision not to recuse himself from the vote, saying he and City Attorney Jim True decided that it was not necessary — ultimately, Mesirow voted against his potential economic interests by voting in favor of the moratorium. But Landis said that he envisions conflicts of interest going forward, and he believes Mesirow should recuse himself from future conversations.
“It isn’t done because now is the discussion, and if he’s being allowed to steer the conversation in favor of these companies that are the disruptors, then how can it be fair?” Landis said.
In an interview on Thursday, Mesirow acknowledged the situation and said while the ordinance will mean his company will not be signing new properties until September, his livelihood is not impacted by the vote and his professional experience gives him a unique perspective at the council table.
“My direct impact is not really any different than anyone else who owns a home, and that’s two other council members,” Mesirow said. “My vote and my voice in and of itself is proof positive that there is no conflict, and I think that my role gives me unique perspective from all sides that is massively beneficial.”
Despite the tension in town, Mesirow said that he is more confident than ever that there is hope for future generations to be able to find an affordable place to live in Aspen.
“I empathize and sympathize with both sides, but we would not have taken this action if we did not feel confident that we can ensure a thriving community for the next 50 years,” he said. “I know that it may not feel like it at this moment, but we have a council absolutely committed to the full community. This is creating a space for people to come in and work with us.”
Mesirow said earlier is better for community members to come forward and voice their concerns, because once the summer is over, there may not be another opportunity. He invited members of the community from all different trades to make themselves heard.
Other council members made comments Wednesday night before the unanimous vote in favor of the pause. Ward Hauenstein, while supportive, was the sole member of the council to consider allowing an extra week for the public to apply for STR permits. He was of the opinion that the confusion of deadlines had caused concern among community members, which encouraged him to propose the extension.
In the end, the unanimous vote made him proud, he said.
“I think it shows an alignment for our city council to be expressive of the views in the Aspen Area Community Plan,” he said. “Over the last four or five months, we have been increasingly concerned with the LLCs putting commercial lodging operations in a home in a residential neighborhood. I’m really proud of our council, and that we have in our hearts the concerns for our community.”
Council’s next regular meeting will be Dec. 14, with an opportunity for public comment at the beginning of the meeting.
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December 10, 2021 at 05:00PM
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