Ketchum City Council has given final approval to an ordinance allowing the city to issue new regulations and collect data on short-term rentals.
Council members voted on Tuesday to approve and conduct the ordinance’s third public reading, preparing it for the mayor’s signature and implementation.
The ordinance requires operators of short-term rentals to be licensed by the city and to meet specific maintenance and fire prevention standards for units to ensure occupant safety. It is modeled after similar laws in the Idaho resort towns of McCall and Sandpoint.
One of the main objectives is to collect data on the number of short-term rentals and their impacts on the community.
The ordinance is “more of a data collection policy than anything at this point,” City Council President Courtney Hamilton said. “We’re just trying to make sure that we have a good understanding of the short-term rentals that exist in our community and that they remit the taxes like the rest of the businesses in our community.”
Short-term rentals are defined in the ordinance as “any single family home or individual or collective dwelling unit or any unit or group of units in a condominium, cooperative or timeshare, or residential home occupied by a resident which is offered for a fee and for 30 days or less.
The order will come into effect on April 1. Short-term rentals already in place will have a 90-day grace period to obtain a permit.
Deputy Fire Chief Seth Martin spoke out in favor that the ordinance’s regulations will make rentals safer for occupants.
Most of Ketchum’s older buildings have been “acquired” despite the lack of modern security measures, he said, but some owners will need to update their properties. Martin said homeowners don’t have to worry about bringing their buildings into compliance with the new code unless they make major renovations or alterations.
Annie Kaiser, an agent for Sun Valley Real Estate, expressed concern that many second home owners in Ketchum, who rent out their property on a short-term basis when out of town, will be shackled by the ordinance.
“I have probably 15 customers, between Warm Springs and West Ketchum, that are affected,” she said.
Councilwoman Amanda Breen said the regulations weren’t too harsh.
“There is a misconception that there is a general grandfather clause, and if someone changes the use or sells the property, then suddenly draconian fire rules come into effect,” he said. she declared. “This is not the case.”
The City will hold a costs hearing
The city still has work to do. In “a few weeks,” City Administrator Jade Riley said the city will submit a final cost estimate for the program and recommend fees for owners of short-term rentals. After that, there will be a public hearing on the charges. Once that hearing is done, the city can move forward with enforcing the ordinance and creating a landlord list.
“There are more unknowns than known about the effects of short-term rentals on our economy and the workforce housing situation,” Mayor Neil Bradshaw said. “This order will help us collect the data we need to make more informed decisions in the future.”
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