Today will be the second reading of a heavily disputed new ordinance in Colorado Springs. After the changes are implemented, there will be no new short term rentals allowed in R1 zones (70% of the city) and any other short term rental is not allowed within 500 feet of another one. This means, no duplexes or multi family units of any kind could have more than a single AirBnB.
These changes were passed without any supporting data. In the past year, there were very few complaints (18) and no permit revocations. Additionally, the reported number of short term rentals had declined by roughly 20%. At all of the council meetings and town hall events, those who opposed these restrictions heavily outnumbered those who favored them.
Colorado Springs is one of the most popular tourism destinations and one of the fastest growing cities in the US. With all of the buzz going on here and the reported demand for alternative accommodations continuing to increase, I am at a loss as to why AirBnB didn't try to help out in our efforts to fight this. We had a large and very active support base. We had all of the data necessary to show that these changes will hurt the local economy. We have a population that is very pro property rights in general.
I would have expected something. We got two emails and one phone call. I can only hope you are doing more behind the scenes. This was a very winnable situation. It wouldn't have taken a lot.
Ryan
