Ad
Featured
City Council reviews short-term rentals policy ... again
George Wilson address the Rio Rancho City Council concerning short-term rentals.
Published
Modified
RIO RANCHO — It’s been just over 100 days since the Rio Rancho City Council Governing Body voted to approve an ordinance allowing for short-term rentals, such as Vrbo and Airbnb, in the City of Vision. Now they are reviewing that ordinance and looking to make a few changes.
At the Jan. 23 meeting, council members Bob Tyler, Nicole List, Wymer, Jeremy Lenentine (attending virtually), Deborah Dapson and Karissa Culbreath, along with Mayor Gregg Hull, met to hear a first reading of purposed changes to the city’s recent short-term rental (STR) ordinance.
Going back just a few short months, STRs weren’t even included Rio Rancho’s Municipal Code. They still exist in the city, but they aren’t technically “legal” yet. So, the Governing Body decided to fix that. They gathered research from other, similar-sized cities and made a basic framework for an STR ordinance.
The ordinance passed, but Hull and the Governing Body agreed they would commence taking feedback and hosting public forums in an effort to tailor the ordinance to better fit Rio Rancho’s specific needs.
The Governing Body has now completed that process, and a new set of guidelines was presented in a first reading to the Council.
Three amendments were proposed; among them was a sharp increase in the frequency limitations from one rental allowed per seven days to seven rentals allowed per 30 days, with no restriction in the month of October (for Balloon Fiesta).
The second proposed amendment stipulates a permit cannot be issued for an STR if another STR is already operating within 100 feet.
The third amendment would drop the grace period for STR permit renewal from 30 days to 15 days.
The STR Ordinance is set to go into effect July 1.
Local STR owner George Wilson was on hand to give public comments. Wilson has been an instrumental voice in the pro-STR community and was intricately involved in the public feedback portion of framing these new changes.
Ad
Wilson asked a few minor questions, but made it clear he was really there to thank the council for listening to the community.
“This certainly solves all of my problems,” Wilson told the council. “Thank you all for the hard work and listening.”
Council members took the chance to speak as well.
Both Tyler and Dapson, who led the public feedback effort along with Hull, thanked Wilson and the Rio Rancho community for their help.
Others were not so enthusiastic about the proposed amendments.
Casey Robinson, a Rio Rancho resident, raised numerous concerns about the presence of STRs in the community.
“These homes are being bought just for parties,” he said.
According to Robinson, STRs hurt home values, disrupt the community and cause increased burdens on local law enforcement.
However, his main issue was the 105 days that had passed since the original ordinance was approved, which he feels is not long enough for a proper assessment.
He was not alone in his view. Culbreath agreed.
“I appreciate that we made considerations for density [how many STRs can exist in a certain area at any one time],” she said. “But I’m quite conflicted about this.”
List, Wymer and Lenentine spoke after Culbreath, and each agreed she made good points but that something needs to be done to regulate STRs.
“In this day and age, we need to have something on the books,” said List.
After comments from the public and council, a vote was taken. The first reading passed 5-1, with Culbreath being the dissenting vote.
Hull finished by pointing out that this is only a first reading, so the issue will be discussed again at the Feb. 13 Governing Body meeting.
Additionally, Hull said there are provisions in the ordinance to allow for the city to revoke permits and limit the number of STR permits granted to a single person.
Lastly, Hull pointed out that Rio Rancho just received accolades for the cleanliness of local STRs, so they certainly need to have an ordinance on the books.
According to misstourist.com, an online travel review site and blog, Rio Rancho has the sixth-cleanest STRs in the country.
After O1 was passed, the Governing Body moved on to a first reading of Ordinance 2.
O2 was a proposed change to the language within existing ordinances to reflect the presence of, and create a definition for, “Short-Term Rentals.”
The first reading of O2 was approved 6-0.
The Governing Body meets again at 6 p.m. Feb. 13. For more information, visit rrnm.gov.
