HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 04/01/2025 - Memorandum from Ginny Sawyer re Old Town North Short – Term Rental Concerns (2)City Manager’s Office
City Hall
300 LaPorte Ave.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6505
cc: Caryn Champine, Director of PDT
Lori Schwarz, Deputy Director of PDT
Noah Beals, Manager, Building & Development Review
MEMORANDUM
Date: March 27, 2025
To: Mayor and Councilmembers
Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager
From: Ginny Sawyer, Project & Policy Manager
Subject: Old Town North Short-Term Rental Concerns
Bottom Line:
Based on current conditions and feedback from residents in the Old Town North (OTN) neighborhood
staff is recommending consideration of changes to prevent additional non-primary short term rentals
(STRs) in the area and possible mitigation for existing licenses.
Background:
The OTN neighborhood is located in the Community Commercial North College (CCN) zone district.
When established this zone was intended:
“…for fringes of retail/commercial core areas and corridors. This District is intended for moderate
intensity uses that are supportive of the commercial core or corridor, and that help to create a transition
and a link between the commercial areas and surrounding residential areas. This designation is only for
areas identified for its application in the North College Corridor Plan.”
As such, the CCN zone allows for both lodging and bed and breakfast uses.
When STR regulations were drafted and adopted, non-primary STRs were allowed in zones that
already allowed lodging establishments.
Since the creation of both the CCN and the STR regulations, the development in CCN has been much
more residential focused than anticipated. Because of this, the concentration of non-primary STRs in
the OTN neighborhood is far greater than anywhere else in the City. Staff has heard from neighbors
and in February hosted a drop in style open house to learn more and hear directly from neighbors and
license holders. (Summary attached.)
Based on this feedback, staff is recommending a 2-prong approach going forward:
Docusign Envelope ID: 5F82313E-1ECA-4EAF-B1E0-F18987F2A107
1. Eliminate the non-primary use in this zone. This would prevent new licenses from being issued
but also increases the value of the existing licenses. Because this is a land use change it needs
to go to the Planning and Zoning Board. This could happen at the May meeting and an
ordinance could be scheduled with Council immediately following.
2. Finding ways to address the existing licenses would likely benefit from additional outreach and
longer timelines for any anticipated changes. Staff is developing potential options.
Docusign Envelope ID: 5F82313E-1ECA-4EAF-B1E0-F18987F2A107
Short-Term Rentals in Old Town North
Public Feedback Report
On February 3, 2025, the City Manager’s Office and Planning and Zoning staff hosted a
neighborhood open house to discuss the topic of Short-Term Rentals (STRs) in the Old Town
North Neighborhood, located East of College Avenue between Vine Drive and Suniga Road.
The City presented information about STRs in Old Town North:
• The neighborhood is zoned Community Commercial North College and allows
both primary and non-primary STRs. When regulations were developed this zone
was anticipated to be much more commercial and instead it has developed with
higher residential uses.
• Almost 20 percent (75) of Fort Collins STRs are in the Old Town North
neighborhood. Seven are primary and 68 are non-primary.
• Almost 30 percent (48) of complaints about STRs from 2019 to present have been
in the Old Town North neighborhood. The two main complaints topics are
noise/parties and parking/vehicles
Forty-seven people signed in at the Open House. Participants were asked to submit their
feedback either by placing a sticky note on the feedback board or filling out a comment card.
Those who could not make it were encouraged to send email comments to Development
Review Manager Noah Beals and Neighborhood Development Liaison Em Myler.
• Sticky note comments – 62
• Comment Cards – 9
• Emails – 46
• Phone Calls - 4
Public Feedback
Community members reported 16 impacts that STRs have on the Old Town North neighborhood
and their lives. They are listed in order of frequency:
1. Decreased neighborhood/community feel
2. Parking and traffic impacts
3. Trash (Placed in the wrong can or scattered outside)
4. Noise and parties
5. Neighborhood aesthetics
6. Safety (unlocked doors, strangers in neighborhood etc)
7. Personal financial security from STRs
8. Local economic impact and tourism
9. Decreased property values
Short-Term Rentals in Old Town North │Public Feedback Report February 2025 | 2
10. Lack of snow shoveling
11. Waste (dog waste and vomit)
12. Improvements to the vitality of the neighborhood
13. Invasions of private property by renters
14. Decreased housing affordability
15. Flexibility of property use (as a guest house, place to stay, STR etc.)
16. Providing local jobs
When asked for ideas on how to address these impacts, ten main themes emerged. They are
listed in the order of frequency:
1. Limit the number of new STRs.
2. Place a moratorium on new STRs (or new non-primary STRs).
3. Revoke the licenses of or impose fines on problem properties and owners.
4. Improve owner and city response to complaints.
5. Do not change STR regulations, focus only on individual complaints and problem
properties.
6. Implement a financial disincentive for STRs and/or non-primary STRs as opposed
to Long-Term Rentals or private homes.
7. Keep STR ownership and management local.
8. Increase the number of non-primary STRs in other areas of the city to decrease
demand in Old Town North.
9. Inspect STRs proactively to avoid common complaints.
10. Instate an occupancy limit for STRs.
Next Steps
Council Awareness
Staff to consider possible options