What are Short-Term Rentals?

Short-term rental generally means the rental of all or a portion of a property for less than 30 days. These rentals are generally listed on websites such as Airbnb.com or HomeAway.com.  

Regulating Short-Term Rentals

The issue of regulating short-term rentals is of increasing interest to local governments across the country. This is true in the Front Range and the City of Westminster. The short-term rental market nationwide has seen a 10-fold increase over the past five years. Although there are currently over 200 short-term rentals operating in Westminster, the City currently does not have any explicit regulations or guidelines in place. At the direction of City Council on March 7th, 2022, city staff is examining how to potentially implement simple, sensible and enforceable local policies that balance the rights of homeowners with the interests of neighbors, community members and businesses. City staff will be preparing research and recommendations on potential short-term rental regulations to present to the city’s Planning Commission and City Council at a later date. The goal is to develop a policy recommendation that incorporates the voice of our community, aligns with our neighbors along the front range, and creates clear and enforceable protections.

Update

The city is continuing work on the development of draft regulations for Short-Term Rental (STR) licensing in the City of Westminster. The last round of focus groups, along with community input, provided insightful and helpful guidance towards draft regulations. That information and recommendations were presented to City Council for their reaction, input and direction at a Study Session on October 17, 2022. Per City Council direction, Staff will continue stakeholder and community engagement efforts towards formal STR regulations and a licensing program.

The City will facilitate focus groups to discuss DRAFT STR Code language and concepts (regulations). This document is now available for view here.

Below are dates for upcoming focus groups. If you have an interest in being involved in this process, please email Joy Tallarico Hunt directly at jtallari@cityofwestminster.us and indicate which session you want to attend. It is important that you RSVP if you plan to attend in order to ensure a comfortable and engaging process for all participants. If you are unable to attend but would like to provide input/feedback, please do so by emailing the information to Joy at the address above and it will be added to the data collected in the focus groups.

focus group schedule (pizza will be served at each focus group)

Saturday, January 7, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Westview Recreation Center (10747 W. 108th Ave.)

Monday, January 9, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Mac (3295 W. 72nd Ave)

Wednesday, January 11, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at City Park Recreation Center (10455 Sheridan Blvd.)

Thursday, January 19, 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at City Park Recreation Center (10455 Sheridan Blvd.)

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