Some residents from a community west of Laramie are pushing their county officials to regulate Airbnbs, complaining they’ve become a nuisance.

Centennial residents came to the Albany County planning board at the beginning of September to complain that, too often, tourists staying at houses in Centennial are loud and obnoxious.

The proliferation of Airbnb and other short-term rentals, they argued, runs counter to the spirit of their “residential” zoning.

Residents from the North Fork subdivision, which consists of 91 properties, have been most vocal in raising concerns.

Under the county’s zoning rules, property zoned as residential must receive a conditional use permit to operate a bed and breakfast, with hotels and motels prohibited.

After hearing those complaints, Albany County Attorney Peggy Trent agreed to work with the county planning office to study what regulations other communities have used to mitigate Airbnb conflicts. Trent said she’ll try to report back to the planning board by November.

The planning board’s members made no promises they’ll enact such regulations, but expressed interest in learning what options might exist.

“I think right now we’re in an information-gathering phase,” said Shaun Moore, who chairs the county’s planning board.

John Spiegelberg, who sits on the planning board, expressed hesitance about regulating short-term rentals.

“I don’t think we’re here to legislate,” he said. “You can regulate as much as you want, but it comes down to enforcement. [The sheriff’s office] is spread as thin as it gets and they do a terrific job.”

Numerous major cities in the U.S. have strict regulations on Airbnbs, often limiting the number of renters or the number of days in a year a property can be rented out.

In Denver, residents are only allowed to have short-term rentals for their primary residences. Ownership of property for sole use of short-term rentals is banned. Last month, the city’s district attorney even began prosecuting Airbnb hosts in violation of city rules.

Both the Park County Commission and the Powell City Council are considering whether they want to regulate short-term rentals; Park County officials held a series of public meetings and commissioners are set to discuss the subject further at their meeting today (Tuesday).

At last month’s Albany County planning board meeting, Centennial area resident Dick Clifton said the Airbnb issue has been “simmering” for a while.

“We have trespassers, speeders and lots of increased traffic,” Clifton said. “There appears to be a mental shift in normally respectful people when they go out on vacation. Absentee owners provide very little oversight and they pass that responsibility onto the neighborhood.”

Clifton said Centennial’s remoteness also makes it difficult for the Albany County Sheriff’s Office to respond to complaints in a timely manner.

The conditional use permits required for bed and breakfasts, he said, could be one solution for Airbnb complaints.

“A lot of us would just like to prohibit [short-term rentals], but that’s not pragmatic,” Clifton said.

However, Jan Alvaney, who uses her North Fork Road home as an Airbnb, said the characterizations of her tenants don’t reflect reality.

“These people are not all as they’ve been portrayed to be. People visiting Centennial ski, camp and fish,” she said. “If we don’t have a place for them to stay overnight, they’re not going to bring their revenue to Albany County.”