HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-19-17 Public Comment - R. & A. Harris - Short Term Rentals6/19/17
Dear Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Commissioners,
We realize that the consideration of the STR issue has been challenging and we thank you for
carefully re-evaluating the pending STR regulations on Thursday. These regulations will effect
many Bozeman homeowners who wish to respectfully use their homes for short-term rentals
now and in the future.
We do remain troubled by the focus on Type III owners for the most severe regulations. This will
have potentially severe negative effects on a wide range of owner including; those who travel
extensively for a living and maintain a part-time home in Bozeman, those who find themselves
working for extended time in other locations who wish to maintain and use their homes periodi-
cally pending their return, those who utilize a second home for extra income while living else-
where in Bozeman, and a variety of others. For many of these individuals long-term rental is not
a viable option since they utilize their homes intermittently themselves and they desire to keep
their homes useful and occupied with the flexibility and maintenance regime typical of the short-
term rental.
Please consider the following observations related to Type I,II & III rentals:
•Type III owned STRs have existed in Bozeman (and across the country) basically trouble free
for two decades under the management of local companies who have traditionally utilized
VBRO and Home-away prior to the advent of Airbnb in 2009.
•The recent rapid growth in STRs is largely due to the popularity of of Airbnb which is utilized
extensively by Type I & II homeowners (rather than Type III). Type III owners are far likely to
be utilizing local management companies. Severely regulating Type III will not curb that trend.
•Severely regulating and/or banning Type III homes will have an unduly negative impact on lo-
cal management companies, small businesses, and many individual service providers.
•We are not aware of any Type III owners operating multiple homes as a for-profit corporate
investment model. Fear of this is overblown. In our experience there are any number of other
more profitable investment opportunities including long-term rentals which do not require the
same level of management and ongoing maintenance.
•For Type III in R1 & RS the INC letter suggested “not allowing” or “limiting” - by days/year,
creating density caps, or requiring a CUP. As an effective ban will have severe and undue
negative impacts on a variety of home owners, please consider one of the later options.
Type III homeowners in RS & R1 zones have invested tremendous time, money, and energy in
their homes and endeavor to be good neighbors. There are many examples of exemplary short-
term rentals operated by Type III owners. They do not deserve to be vilified, feared, banned,
and/or severely regulated. Please give careful consideration to impacts on STR homeowners,
even those who now find themselves in the category of Type III. Thank you!
Robert and Amanda Harris
624 Willson Avenue