The Town of Blue River has hit pause on accepting any new short-term rental licenses through the end of the year as town officials grapple with what they describe as widespread compliance issues with recently adopted regulations. 

In a unanimous vote held Tuesday, May 19, the Blue River Board of Trustees approved an emergency ordinance imposing a temporary moratorium on new or lapsed short-term rental license renewals through Dec. 31 while the town rewrites its regulations and enforcement procedures.

The freeze doesn’t affect short-term rentals that already hold a valid 2026 license and are currently operating in compliance with town requirements. 

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“The stated conflicts with short-term rentals resulted in a collective focus on the short-term rental issues by the Board of Trustees and a vote of 6-0 to approve the moratorium so the town could look at revamping the regulations to better manage the program,” Town Manager Chad Hull said via email. 

When asked to elaborate on the “emergency” outlined in the ordinance, Hull said town staff defer to the existing language and “have no further comment on the matter.” 

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During the discussion, town officials said Blue River currently has around 210 licensed short-term rentals but are aware of roughly 230 short-term rental properties operating within town limits. Hull said staff have been manually reviewing listings on platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO and have identified properties that either failed to renew their licenses or may never have entered the town’s licensing system. 

“There are some that haven’t even been entered into the system at all,” Hull said at the trustees meeting. 

Industry group opposes emergency declaration

The declaration of an emergency has drawn criticism from representatives of the local vacation rental industry, who argue the trustees adopted the moratorium with little public input and could expose homeowners to legal and financial risks. 

Julia Koster, executive director of the Colorado Short-Term Rental Alliance and a representative of the Summit Alliance of Vacation Rental Managers, said industry leaders were surprised that Blue River declared an emergency in order to freeze short-term rental licensing and renewals. 

The first short-term rental moratorium in Summit County was implemented in Breckenridge around 2021 following the pandemic-era surge in vacation rental demand. But Breckenridge didn’t stop approving renewal applications during that time. Instead, Koster said Breckenridge used that pause to develop a new regulatory framework for short-term rentals and establish a cap on the number of licenses allowed within town limits. 

Blue River’s situation, Koster claimed, is different.

“To call this an emergency is a little silly, a little bit extra,” Koster said. 

Koster added that the Summit Alliance of Vacation Rental Managers is “really disappointed that an ordinance of this gravity — with far-reaching consequences for homeowners, for local business, for tourism — was adopted through an emergency process that provided little to zero opportunity for public engagement.”

Koster said members of the Summit Alliance of Vacation Rental Managers share concerns about the ordinance and were “disappointed” that Blue River town officials never consulted them before imposing the emergency moratorium. Koster pointed out that Toby Babich is the former mayor of Blue River. Babich is listed as board president of Summit Alliance of Vacation Rental Managers, according to its website.

“For the Board of Trustees to not reach out to us, or at least contact myself or Toby, is completely irresponsible and negligent,” Koster said. “Perhaps we could have come to the table with solutions, or even the staff power to help figure out the compliance issues.”

Koster added that the organization champions responsible property management and continually works with short-term renters to meet all local regulations.

“We want to work with the town and the community to make sure that compliance is taken care of,” she said. 

Koster said the short-term rental alliance is planning to send a letter to Blue River town officials opposing the freeze on renewals and licenses, as well as interrogating some of the statistics and conclusions cited by trustees to justify the emergency declaration. 

The Board of Trustees approved the updated restrictions in November and they took effect at the beginning of this year. In mid-April, the town issued a reminder to the local short-term rental community about its “significant overhaul” of regulations, including limiting owners to only one license. 

At the meeting May 19, Trustee Jodie Willey said in April, she reviewed online short-term rental listings and found that only one out of 35 properties appeared to comply with the town’s new regulations. 

Koster questioned how Willey determined that figure, what specific violations she observed and whether a sample of 35 properties was enough to warrant an emergency declaration. Koster claimed the staff work required to mitigate similar noncompliance issues is minimal.

“This is not moratorium-inducing behavior,” Koster said. “This is a mistake by the host. Just reach out to them. How hard is it to make a phone call or send an email?”

Koster claimed the town has “backed itself into a corner” by adopting a lengthy list of new regulations without dedicating sufficient staff resources to oversee compliance and enforcement.

Koster also questioned whether many of the violations identified by town officials warrant an emergency declaration. She ventured that some short-term renters may not even realize they’ve violated any rules, while many issues can be “corrected quickly” by updating online listings, removing prohibited amenities or adjusting parking information. 

“Most of these things don’t take months to fix,” Koster said.

Most of all, though, Koster said she’s concerned about the freeze on license renewals. She said she’s never seen another town pause accepting renewal applications. 

Unlike in Breckenridge, where short-term rental licenses are due for renewal at the beginning of each year for all property managers, Blue River processes applications and renewals on a rolling basis. 

Koster said that could create complications for homeowners who have already accepted reservations for later this year but may need to renew their licenses during the moratorium period. Koster said short-term rental owners in that situation will wind up breaking the town’s laws or canceling a booking.

Trustees cite widespread compliance, enforcement issues

Blue River trustees said the moratorium will afford the town time to evaluate whether it has the resources necessary to effectively administer and enforce its short-term rental program. 

Willey said the town needs to improve its data collection system, verify the accuracy of licensing records and determine whether existing staff can adequately manage all compliance, renewals and enforcement responsibilities. 

“Given the amount of work that we still need to do to make sure we have consistent enforcement, accurate data collection and evaluation of the short-term rental program, I believe it’s appropriate to temporarily pause acceptance of new STR licenses and renewals while the staff and the board evaluate how the current program is functioning,” Willey read from a statement at the meeting May 19. 

Trustee Barrie Stimson agreed, saying the town has already shown a willingness to enforce its regulations but lacks the personnel needed to do so consistently. So far, Hull, who stepped into the role as town manager in February, has been handling most of that work. 

“Very disappointing,” Stimson said of the compliance issues identified by town staff. “I think we demonstrated a couple months ago that we’re serious about enforcing and people violating and abusing the short-term rental process. … But we don’t have anybody to enforce this.”

Hull said town staff currently find unlicensed rentals by manually combing through listings on Airbnb, VRBO and other platforms and comparing them against town short-term rental records. While the town has identified roughly 210 licensed short-term rentals compared to about 230 known operating rentals, Hull acknowledged that review remains incomplete. 

“At this point, it’s not a comprehensive review,” Hull said. 

Trustees also discussed whether code enforcement responsibilities could be shifted to the police department or if the town should hire a dedicated employee to oversee short-term rental compliance. Hull advised against relying on law enforcement, saying existing staff are already stretched thin. Rather, he said, effective enforcement would likely require a full-time position. 

The review process is expected to take the rest of the year, though Willey noted the moratorium could be lifted earlier or repealed if work is completed ahead of schedule. 

Koster said she hopes the town includes her and other short-term rental industry representatives in future conversations. 

“We want to be part of the solution,” Koster said.