Voters have opportunity to preserve their neighborhood character | Guest column
On Dec. 12, vote “YES” with the citizens on Question No. 1, the Citizen Initiative Short-Term Rental Ordinance and vote “NO” on Question No. 2 the city council competing ordinance that is focused on supporting investors from all over the nation, rather than Woodland Park citizens.
The Citizen Initiative Short-Term Rental (STR) Ordinance is simple and direct. It permits investor STRs only in commercial zoning districts. Current and future investor STRs will not be permitted in single-family residential zones in order to preserve neighborhood integrity. No caps, no complicated mapping, no grandfathering, no complicating HOA issues, businesses will be in business districts and residences will be in residential districts, the way our zoning code was established decades ago.
The city council ordinance is cumbersome, complicated and leaves more questions than answers on what it is solving and its future impact on our neighborhoods and our city. It will affect the quality of life for resident families and disrupt their sense of community. It will displace families with lodging businesses housing short-term renters that have no ties to the neighborhood or the city. One of the reasons we moved to our city will be lost forever; to enjoy vibrant neighborhoods with neighbors.
The Citizen STR Ordinance was the result of the city’s STR community engagement process along with talking directly to over 1,000 Woodland Park Residents. The common theme was that investor owned short-term rental lodging businesses do not belong in our residential neighborhoods.
Typically, property owners have an equal right to use their property as they see fit, provided they comply with zoning and other relevant regulations. The Citizens STR Ordinance clearly protects the rights of every property owner by focusing on fixing our zoning code, leaving it to the city council to define detailed, STR business regulations; a city council responsibility.
Property rights include the right to enjoy a peaceful and stable neighborhood with neighbors they know and can rely on when they need help, the right to live next door to families, not lodging businesses, the right to enjoy a walk down the street safely, knowing who lives next door and across the street.
The Citizens STR Ordinance will not allow our property rights to be sold to investors from anywhere in the world who want to operate a STR motel next door to any one of us for financial gain, with no consideration to the impact on our neighborhoods or our city.
1,345 verified voters, demanded a voice in determining how to solve STR problems in Woodland Park when they signed our tremendously successful citizen initiative petition. Now is the time for your voice to be heard to preserve the character of your neighborhood and our city.
It’s now our time to pass a commonsense short-term rental ordinance.
Vote YES on Question No. 1 and Vote NO on Question No. 2.
Jerry Penland.