HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-14-23 Public Comment - S. Collins - Re_ Short term rentalFrom:Steve Collins
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Re: Short term rental
Date:Monday, August 14, 2023 11:47:22 AM
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Mayor and commission members,
I am writing a follow-up letter to the letter I wrote on June 12th of this year. I watched from
Arizona the recent lengthy discussion regarding short term rentals in Bozeman.
I was aghast that your conclusions from that meeting is to further restrict short term rentals,particularly type 3's. I fail to understand any logic in doing so if the goal is to somehow create
more affordable long term rentals. I feel you ignored or glossed over the statistics presented toyou by your staff and based your decision on some wild hope that this will somehow
magically produce the desired outcome.
You currently have restrictions and rules pertaining to the proper licensing and monitoring ofSTR's in the city limits. You currently know that some 50% of those are operating
illegally. Yet you heard from staff that you have yet to enforce your own statues! Not onecitation has been issued! While I am legal, pay my fees and pay my taxes, you have allowed
the proliferation of STR's without any repercussions to the owners of those units. And now,partly due to your lack of enforcement, I am caught up in the controversy and you want to
punish me and my legal rights. I say that is blatantly unfair.
If your goal is to remove all STR's from the Bozeman city limits, then be transparent. If yourgoal is to create more affordable housing, then listen to your staff and listen to me. I will never
offer my property as a long term rental. There are no incentives you could offer to make me dothat. That is not the reason I purchased it years ago. I have extended family in Bozeman and
use my home personally. I offer my home to other families throughout the year who wouldlikely not visit your city and spend money in the local economy if they had to hole up in a
motel room. They love the affordability and the options a nice, fully equipped home has tooffer.
I strongly urge you to enforce your current rules. Return to sanity on this issue. What you plan
to do will not have the desired effect. You are catering to the emotions of a frustrated and wellorganized group. Their goals and desires are well justified and they present a passionate plea
for you to help them. The problem of affordable housing in Bozeman is much more complexthan a few hundred vacation rentals. Your focus should be on a long term solution. Enforce
your current laws and leave me and other legal type 3 vacation rentals alone.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your consideration.
Most sincerely,
Steve Collins
On Mon, Jun 12, 2023 at 1:11 PM Steve Collins <stevecollins2189@gmail.com> wrote:
Mayor and commission members,
I own a second home in Bozeman that is also a legal, conforming and properly licensedshort term rental. I would like to comment on the recent push by a group of concerned
citizens regarding abolishing all second home short term rentals.
The goal of the citizen's group is to add more rental inventory to the local market by notallowing short term rentals in second homes. While the goal of adding rental inventory is
well intentioned, I feel the focus of restricting second homes currently being used as legalshort term rentals will do little, if anything, to increase the supply of affordable housing.
Take my home as an example. I have children and grandchildren here in Bozeman. I love
the city and spending time here throughout the year with my local and visiting family. If Icould not rent my home as a short term rental during my absences, I would never put it on
the rental market as a long term rental, either lease or month to month. That is not why Ipurchased it years ago and can only assume that there are many others just like me.
A couple other points to consider in this discussion. One is that if my and other short term
rentals didn't exist, it would deprive the local economy of money spent from visitingtravelers. Secondly, it would deprive me of my property rights. I purchased my property
conditioned upon meeting all city regulations pertaining at the time for a legal short termrental in the city limits.
In conclusion, while the local need is great for more affordable rental housing, I do not see
how restricting the use of a second home as a legal short term rental will do anything toincrease affordable long term rental inventory.
Thank you for your time and allowing me to express my opinion.
Best regards,
Steve Collins