Two groups of Woodland Park voters are seeking signatures for two not quite competing petitions pertaining to recently approved city ordinances concerning short-term rentals.

The first petition, circulated by Protect Residential Property Rights Committee, seeks to repeal Ordinance 1431, which defines and regulates STR licensing and operation, including zoning.

Arnie Sparnins and former planning commissioners Peter Scanlon and Jerry Penland are leading members of the group.

Penland said the group is not trying to ban STRs in Woodland Park. “Some want a total ban, but that’s not our focus,” he said. “Short-term rentals are a good thing, in the right location.”

Those “right” locations are in the city’s commercial and agricultural zones and the Central Business District, where Penland said visitors are within walking distance of most of the city’s amenities.

“Most of our residential areas are too far from downtown to be convenient for visitors,” he said. “People in STRs in my neighborhood drive to other places.”

The city’s ordinance bans STRs in multifamily zones, but Sparnins said that ban is mostly a safety issue.

The group wants to allow homeowner-occupied STRs without restriction anywhere in the city, which is also allowed in the new ordinance. “We used to call these people innkeepers, and they’ve been around for centuries,” Penland said. “They are our neighbors and friends. They know the city and respect its laws.”

“We want to allow non-homeowner occupied STR investors to buy houses without restriction in commercial and agricultural zones,” Penland said. “We don’t want to destroy anyone’s livelihood, but about 50% of STR operators are non-residents.”

He said the group isn’t entirely united on what to do about “legacy STR owners,” who are currently operating in residential and planned unit developments. Penland said he would like to give these owners a reasonable amount of time to change their business plans to operate in areas where STRs “make sense.”

The main reason the group is seeking a citizens’ referendum is because, in their opinion, Woodland Park City Council members didn’t listen to the citizens or to the planning commission.

In an emailed statement, Penland stated:

“The city made a huge mistake a couple of years ago by giving business licenses to investors to operate lodging businesses in our residential neighborhoods. They saw all this loss of revenue from businesses so decided to make STR owners operate as the business they are. The STR taxes actually go into our city budget as part of the lodging business revenue, the same as our hotels. Lodging businesses are not allowed in our residential neighborhoods by our current zoning district restrictions.”

Councilman Frank Connors, who ran for council on a campaign of regulating STRs, asked why STRs are taxed as residences instead of the lodging businesses they are. Issuing business licenses for STRs is outside the code, he said.

Penland asked why city leadership decided “that a Woodland Park citizen’s property rights mean less than a California investor’s property rights, people who could not care less about the character of our neighborhoods or the character of our city.”

Sparnins pointed out that preserving the city’s character was cited as the No. 1 priority, by about 96% of those who filled out a community engagement questionnaire.

Penland said he was mostly in favor of the ordinance the planning commission presented to city council, but numerous changes were made by Council that he and the group didn’t favor.

“The one thing they did right was approving the Good Neighbor Guidelines,” he said. “These guidelines are also supported by the STR community.”

Some worry about a loss of revenue if STRs are not allowed in residential zones, but the city’s revenue loss is far outweighed by revenue lost by Woodland Park School District if families with children leave because of a neighborhood’s loss of character, Penland said.

The group has until Dec. 27 to collect 714 valid signatures. “We’re aiming at around 1,000 signatures, because not all the signatures will be valid.”

Signees must be registered Woodland Park electors. Voters can have a Woodland Park address without being a Woodland Park resident.

Penland mentioned another petition that is being circulated by Rusty Neal and Jeremy Lyons to stop Ordinance 1432, which would extend the moratorium on issuing business licenses for STRs until June 30. Penland said ending the moratorium too soon would create a “Wild, Wild West.”

Neal begs to differ, while being careful to point out that he is asking for the referendum in his role as a private citizen and Woodland Park elector and not in his role as a city councilman.

“The Colorado Constitution gives me the right to petition as an elector,” he said. “Of 17 entities on a waitlist for STR licenses, 15 are probably Woodland Park residents. I want to stop the extension because it’s unnecessary and cruel to keep these people in limbo. As a legislator, I cast my vote for what I thought was right. As a private citizen/elector I couldn’t sit back and let lives be damaged — I personally thought the extension was wrong.”

The original moratorium ended Dec. 15. Its end opens a window for STR investors to get business licenses for 2022 and for 2023 renewals. That window could close on Jan. 13 if Neal and Lyons can’t get 717 valid signatures by that date.

“If the signatures are judged insufficient, the referendum fails and the extension goes back into effect,” Neal said. “At least the people on the waitlist will have an opportunity to be out of limbo.”

Neal reiterated something he said during a council meeting: “I applied for an STR license to protect my property rights. When I learned that this could cause a conflict of interest, I withdrew my application. I have no intention of opening an STR.”

He said he hasn’t spoken to any other city council member about his petition.

“I hope they don’t contact me,” Neal said. “I hope they just let Rusty do what Rusty does as a private citizen.”

“I swore an oath to represent the citizens to the best of my ability and uphold the U.S. and Colorado Constitutions and the city codes,” he added. “I never gave up my rights as a private citizen when I became a legislator.”

Arnie Sparnins shared this photo he found on Facebook of what he says is an illegal bonfire in front of a short-term rental property in Woodland Park.

Courtesy of Arnie Sparnins