District Judge Throws Out Lawsuit; Anti-STR Law Remains in Place
Trevor Phipps
After around three years of a back-and-forth battle surrounding whether or not short-term rentals (STRs) should be allowed in residential neighborhoods in Woodland Park, the bout recently came to a grand finale.
On April 18, a district judge granted the city’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed in hopes to end the voter-approved STR ban, which was originally put on the ballot by a group of citizens.
So, for now, STR businesses will not be allowed within residential zones in Woodland Park unless the owner of the house lives on the property that is being rented. However, Mary Sekowski and the Teller County Short-Term Rental Alliance still have until June 6 to appeal the judge’s decision, which could further prolong the local STR battle.
The recent court decision came after the same judge, William Moller, previously denied a request from the same group for a court injunction to allow STR businesses to continue to operate until the lawsuit made its way through court. After the injunction was denied, the ordinance that should have gone into effect at the start of 2025 was immediately enacted.
After the citizens of Woodland Park voted with a 59 percent majority to enact the ban, the short-term rental alliance fired back with a lawsuit. The group filed one lawsuit initially then dropped it. Now, their second lawsuit, which dealt with a more comprehensive view of the situation, has been dismissed by Judge Moller.
Judge Finds STR Ordinance Legal
Overall, the lawsuit against the STR ban cited seven claims that the voter-approved ordinance violated Colorado state law, as well as the state and U.S. constitutions. But in the end, the judge decided that none of those claims were valid.
One complaint made in the lawsuit dealt with the fact that an ordinance cannot cause harm to someone by taking away a business that was previously legal before the ordinance was passed. But, the judge agreed with the city attorneys who said that STR businesses were never allowed in residential neighborhoods, according to the city’s zoning codes.
He went further to say that just because business licenses were given to people to operate STRs, a city employee cannot override the zoning laws. Therefore, the judge agreed that even though some STR businesses were operating in town before the ordinance was passed, they were never technically allowed in the first place.
“Plaintiffs’ claims of a violation under C.R.S. § 30-28-120 therefore fail because STRs were not a permitted use in a residential zone under the Woodland Park Municipal Code,” District Judge William Moller said in his decision. “And since STRs were not a legal use, the provisions of C.R.S. § 30-28-120 are inapplicable because there was no pre-existing lawful use that could now qualify as a non-conforming use.”
The judge also decided that property rights do not give someone the authority to operate an STR business. And especially since STRs were never legal in Woodland Park in the first place, there was no “vested right” allowing people to rent their properties on a short-term basis.
The lawsuit also claimed that the STR ordinance violated people’s rights to assemble since it put a restriction on how many people could occupy an allowed STR property. The court ruled though that a municipality has a right to set restrictions on occupancy for safety reasons.
STR Ban Advocates Praise Judge’s Decision
After the Woodland Park STR battle has dragged on for over three years, some community members have been fighting to ban STR businesses within residential neighborhoods for even longer. The issue really started to come up in early 2022 when the city asked for input on what to do about STR properties.
Since there was previously no licensing program or rules set for STR businesses in Woodland Park most agreed that the city council needed to enact some sort of ordinance to regulate STRs. But once the city tried to pass an ordinance that would allow all STR businesses in residential neighborhoods, but put a cap on them, a group of citizens quickly fought back.
At the end of 2022, a group spearheaded by residents Arnie Sparnins and Jerry Penland successfully filed a petition to reverse the council’s ordinance. The group then waited to see if the council would attempt to adopt an ordinance that wouldn’t allow STR businesses in residential zones. But when the council came back with a similar ordinance that would only put a cap on STRs in residential neighborhoods, the group took matters into their own hands. They eventually got enough votes to put their own ballot measure up to vote during a special election in December 2023.
Now that the judge has decided that the citizens’ ordinance is lawful, the group’s work is done for now unless an appeal comes about.
“The dismissal affirms the will of the people and enables the city to ensure compliance with the citizens’ initiative on short-term rental (STR) zoning—restoring peace and integrity to our neighborhoods,” Penland and Sparnins said in a joint statement. “The court made it clear that our zoning ordinances never allowed short-term rentals in Woodland Park before the citizens’ initiative. The citizens’ initiative didn’t change the rules—it simply confirmed the existing zoning regulations, protecting the rights of people living in residential neighborhoods from the negative impacts of STR businesses.”
