An unintended consequence of the proposed STR regulations could drive owner-occupied rentals to become absentee-owned rentals.

In my case, they could also cause Teller County to lose a local equine business and future mental-health counseling provider.

I own and operate two local businesses: Mustang Wisdom, an equine-assisted coaching practice, and Starry Ridge, an owner-occupied one-bedroom STR.

Starry Ridge enables me to offer intensive, multi-day couples coaching, where I provide evidence-based tools to help couples save their marriages. I also provide multi-day equine-assisted burnout-recovery coaching for people suffering from overwhelm and seeking more purpose-driven lives.

Why should this matter to Teller County?

For locals, I provide 1- to 4-hour mindfulness, marriage, and executive coaching services with the horses. This spring, Mustang Wisdom won the Best of Teller County GOLD award in the Therapy/Coaching category.

I am committed to expanding my services. Through my involvement with the Teller County Mental Health Alliance, I learned that Teller County’s suicide rates are double that of our neighboring counties, and that many locals must travel to Colorado Springs for counseling. In response, I enrolled in a graduate program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Mustang Wisdom could begin offering mental-health counseling services in rural Florissant as early as January 2028.

Income from multi-day services for out-of-town clients who stay in our STR helps move Mustang Wisdom toward solvency while allowing us to offer a 20% discount to active-duty military and Veterans.

Unfortunately, the layers of bureaucratic requirements and costs embedded in the draft regulations make operating in this county less attractive. Ironically, I would earn significantly more by relocating Mustang Wisdom and converting my owner-occupied one-bedroom STR into an absentee-owned three-bedroom whole-house rental. The proposed regulations create a financial incentive for exactly the outcome the County presumably hopes to avoid.

At a time when a group counseling practice in Cripple Creek recently closed, a therapeutic riding center in Colorado Springs has declared bankruptcy, and many residents travel to Colorado Springs for counseling, does Teller County want to erect additional barriers to new and innovative practices?

I am not asking for a government handout. I am not asking for donations. I am not even asking for the ability to do whatever I want with my property: I support common-sense regulation and permitting of STRs. I am simply asking Teller County not to increase operating costs and bureaucratic requirements for owner-occupied STRs. These new costs would not occur in isolation: fuel costs have risen 38% since last summer, hay costs have risen 30% since winter, and wildfire smoke has reduced our peak-season operating days by roughly 30% this summer.

At the 2025 Suicide Awareness Symposium, Commissioner Williams approached my booth and thanked me for Mustang Wisdom’s contributions to Teller County. Unfortunately, the proposed STR regulations may force Mustang Wisdom to relocate and transform my owner-occupied STR into an absentee-owned whole-house rental. I respectfully ask the Commissioners to avoid imposing increased operating costs on owner-occupied STRs so that I may continue and expand my contributions to Teller County.