The Powell City Council and the Park County Commission are each taking a closer look at property owners offering short-term rentals. The practice has greatly expanded as internet services such as Airbnb connect travelers across the country with people offering single or multi-night stays in their homes; Powell and rural Park County are no exceptions to the trend.

At its regular meeting last week, the council held a public hearing on a proposed amendment to a section of the city code that governs tourist homes and short-term rentals. The way the ordinance is currently written, it’s not entirely clear if such practices are prohibited or allowed. As more questions arise from those wanting to rent out their homes — and those concerned about their neighbors doing so — the city decided to clarify the language.

At last week’s meeting, councilors expressed concern about the lack of regulation governing short-term rentals.

Councilor Scott Mangold said without some kind of registration process, there’s no way to be sure people who operate vacation rentals by owner are paying lodging tax, which is unfair to hotels in town.

“I’m not comfortable with something popping up at any time,” said Councilor Lesli Spencer.

Councilors passed the amended ordinance on first reading last week, but indicated they may alter the language on its second reading. That’s set to take place during the council’s Monday meeting, which starts at 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, in a separate but similar process, Park County commissioners are kicking off a series of five public scoping meetings to gauge whether local residents believe there’s a need for the county to regulate short-term rentals. The first meeting is set for 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, at Heart Mountain Hall at the Park County Fairgrounds. Other meetings will follow on the South Fork, in Cody, in Wapiti and in Clark.

Commissioners began considering regulations after hearing complaints about some of the couple hundred locations that are listed for rent on sites like Airbnb. Among the concerns are homeowners advertising room for far more guests than what their septics systems are designed to handle.

“There has to be some sort of regulation applied to it, unfortunately,” Commission Chairman Jake Fulkerson said during one of the board’s first discussions of short-term rentals a year ago. “I’m a huge proponent of [private] property rights and I know my peers are, too, … but if you don’t do something, we’re going to be overrun by this phenomenon.”

Commissioner Lee Livingston said at that July 2018 meeting that county officials need to hear from the public.

“We need input on this, because it’s not going to go away, it’s going to get worse,” he said. “And the last thing this board … wants to do is make a regulation change and find out later that it was not popular, it wasn’t the right one to make.”

Park County Planning and Zoning Director Joy Hill said she hopes people will attend the upcoming meetings to share their thoughts on short-term rentals.

Meanwhile, the City of Powell’s public hearing last week brought out one resident who’s concerned with allowing residents to rent out their homes that way.

Stephanie Bennett-Brown, who lives on Beartooth Drive, said a neighbor rents their home out through Airbnb. She said she’s concerned about the transient traffic next door.

“I wouldn’t purchase my home next to a Super 8, because I wouldn’t want a transient population next to my home and my kids,” Bennett-Brown told the council.

She said her aim was not to stop residents of Powell from using their homes for short-term rentals — “I don’t think Airbnb is going away,” she said — but would like some sort of notice of such activities.

Bennett-Brown added that she spoke to her neighbor, who was very considerate of the concerns.

Christine Bekes, executive director of Powell Economic Partnership, said homeshare services have the benefit of offering more lodging in Powell, which brings in people to shop in local stores and eat in local restaurants. Powell, she said, has a total lodging capacity of 150 rooms.

“It certainly adds to our capacity,” Bekes pointed out. (PEP is also currently helping with efforts to build a roughly 75-room hotel and convention center on the city’s western edge; Bekes said last week that there were no updates on the project, but things continue to move forward.)

Rebekah Burns, Powell Visitor Center coordinator, wasn’t at last week’s meeting but said they field calls at PEP/Powell Chamber from people considering the idea of renting out their home.

“There’s a lot of people looking at this,” she said.

Burns provides brochures for area attractions, restaurants and businesses that property owners can hand out to their guests. She also directs them to the Park County Planning and Zoning Department for procedures on paying sales and lodging tax, which the hosts of the service are required to do.

The county can also direct them to the Park County Travel Council to be added to the county’s lodging inventory.

“That’s how we put Powell on the map,” Burns said.

She also advises property owners on getting insurance for their lodging property.

Gregg McDonald, insurance agent with Farmers Insurance, said he offers policies to cover people who provide vacation rental by owner, as they’re called. People are often searching for lodging under the term “VRBO,” he said.

Insurance for VRBOs “is very important. ... People are smart and educated enough to know you want to protect your assets,” McDonald explained.

He offers a couple policies specifically to provide coverage for these kinds of rentals, which can include liability and other protections. He noted they won’t cover floods, which is a separate policy.

When county commissioners discussed short-term rentals in July 2018, County Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Marion Morrison called it a “very polarized” issue.

“There are some people that stand to have great capital gains,” she said, “… and there’s other people that are greatly impacted by it.”

Following the Aug. 22 meeting at the fairgrounds, the county will hold public meetings on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at the Southfork Fire Hall, on Thursday, Aug. 29 at the Park County Courthouse’s EOC Room, on Thursday, Sept. 5 at the Wapiti School Gym and on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at the Clark Fire Hall. All of the county’s meetings will run from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Have thoughts on short-term rentals? Speak up now

In two separate processes, the Powell City Council and the Park County Commission are considering whether to impose regulations on short-term rentals.

The City of Powell will hold a public hearing on the issue during its regular 6 p.m. Monday meeting at City Hall.

Meanwhile, county officials are kicking off a series of public scoping meetings on short-term rentals, with the first running from 5-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, at the Park County Fairgrounds’ Heart Mountain Hall.