Enforcement Time Arrives for Non-Occupied STRs in WP Residential Areas
Trevor Phipps
For the last few years, the question whether or not to allow short-term rentals (STRs) inside city limits has become a hot topic in Woodland Park.
As both sides have gone back and forth with various maneuvers, the political and legal drama in the City Above the Clouds surrounding this issue has lasted for months and is showing no signs of easing up.
However, despite the uncertainty associated with a full-fledged federal lawsuit filed on behalf of STR property owners, the political talk has now apparently ended and the time for enforcement of a new voter-approved law (calling for the banning of STR properties in residential areas, unless they are owner-occupied) has arrived. The mayor of Woodland Park, Kellie Case, who actually opposed the law, has reiterated that STR property owners have had adequate warnings regarding the realities of the new STR ordinance.
After the latest March 14 ruling from District Court Judge William Moller, STRs are now officially banned in Woodland Park’s residentially zoned neighborhoods unless the owner lives on the property. But not surprisingly, the legal battle still continues.
The lengthy soap-opera-like bout regarding shor-term rentals came to a peak a year and a half ago, when residents voted 1,347 to 943 to ban non-owner occupied STRs inside residential zones during a special election in December 2023. The law gave owners of STR properties until December 31, 2024, to cease operating their STR businesses in residential neighborhoods.
However, shortly after the law was passed by the voters, a group of citizens, calling themselves the Teller County Short Term Rental Alliance, filed a lawsuit in federal court saying that the law approved at the ballot box violated the constitutional rights of STR owners. The federal lawsuit is still in the process even with the most recent decision made by the local district judge, which dealt with an injunction request that would have given the alliance temporary relief. The next court date for the federal lawsuit is scheduled for July.
But when the group filed the lawsuit in federal court, there was nothing to stop the ordinance from going into effect on January 1, 2025. In an attempt to prevent the ordinance for immediately going into effect at the first of the year, the group then asked the district court for a preliminary injunction that would have stalled the ordinance from becoming law until the lawsuit was finalized in federal court.
However, on March 14, Judge Moller denied the preliminary injunction stating that the ordinance did not cause STR owners “irreparable damage.” The ordinance passed by voters that banned non-owner occupied STRs in residential neighborhood then went into effect immediately after the judge’s decision.
The city is now enforcing the non-owner occupied STR ban in residentially zoned areas inside Woodland Park city limits. This has created much angst among business operators and even contractors. However, Woodland Park Mayor Kellie Case said that STR owners had plenty of warning that the new ordinance could start to be enforced soon.
“The city had been sending certified letters to all of the known operating STRs advising them to be aware that this was coming and that the judge was scheduled to rule on March 14,“ Case said. “Communication was occurring. So, once the judge made his ruling on that Friday (March 14), the following Monday notices were posted on the doors of each location so that it was sure that they were notified. Immediately they were to cease and desist operations and that is the way it is until the lawsuit is ruled on.”
What’s Next?
After the non-owner occupied STR ban in residential neighborhoods went into effect, rumors circulated around town that hundreds of houses went up for sale after they could no longer be used for STR properties. Some residents have even been worried that the local housing market would be flooded with homes for sale to the point that the real estate market would plummet and negatively affect home values.
However, Case (who is also a local real estate agent) said that the rumors were false. “I have seen nothing that is any different from normal,” Case said. “I have seen some (STR rental properties) come on the market. But I have not seen a surge or anything that would be abnormal as far as new listings coming on the market.”
Before the new STR ban went into place, there were more than 100 STR businesses operating in residential neighborhoods. However, even though the STR owners can no longer rent the properties for less than a month to vacationers, they can rent them on a long-term basis or put them up for sale.
But since the federal lawsuit has not yet been decided on, some of the STR owners might hold off before selling their properties and wait on the outcome of the court’s decision. However, the lawsuit is expected to take a total of 12 to 18 months (without accounting for appeals) to be completely decided.
The lawsuit claims that the ordinance (approved by the voters of Woodland Park in a special election) is unlawfully taking away businesses that were operating in the city legally before the ordinance was passed. The lawsuit also claims that the ordinance is unconstitutional since the STRs that are allowed under the ordinance can’t have more than 12 people, or more than two people per room, renting a home short term.
The complaint filed in court states that many STR owners rent to people that hold wedding parties and family reunions, and that barring more than 12 people from an STR property violates the citizens’ right to assemble outlined in the First Amendment.
Proponents of the new STR ban, who organized an extensive citizen petition drive, are calling these claims ridiculous.
