New ordinance to regulate short-term housing

own a short-term rental, Coconino County would require rental operators to pay a $250 annual permit, have a $500,000 liability insurance policy and notify neighbors of the property.

BRAYDEN HOFFMAN

Ameeting was held with the Coconino County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 24 to discuss new regulations for vacation rentals. New ordinances were introduced to try and dissuade public misuse of these properties.

Doug Ducey signed Senate Bill 1168 in 2022, which gave power to local governments to set regulations for shortterm rentals, otherwise known as vacation rentals. Coconino County is making efforts in local government to regulate these properties, which would let the government have small oversight over some of these issues.

District Three supervisor Matt Ryan has been working on implementing regulation for short-term housing for several years. Such regulations would impact cities with high rates of tourism like Sedona and Flagstaff.

“This is the result of our communicating with the legislature to express our concerns about not having regulatory authority over short-term rentals,” Ryan said. “Albeit limited, we now have a very important tool that will promote voluntary compliance and encourage people to be good neighbors.”

Supervisor Chair Patrice Horstman recognized the community has made complaints when vacation rentals in residential areas are misused, and when short-term rental operators neglect to stay up to date with the property.

Horstman said short-term rentals benefit people in cities that see high amounts of tourism, but said she wants to seize the short window of opportunity for Coconino County to implement new regulations.

“With the governments’ hands tied, there would occasionally be abuses with these short-term rentals,” Horstman said. “I know myself and other members of the board have received complaints about vacation rentals being turned into party homes with absentee landlords. And this has resulted in neighborhoods having traffic concerns, parking issues and litter, and it has become an issue that needs to be addressed.”

As laid out in the meeting, regulations for those renting out property would include meeting certain requirements and paying for permits. While there is no license needed to

Jay Christelman, director of the Community Development Department, outlined proposals for new legislation and said it should be necessary to notify all neighbors of the vacation rental. Christelman said neighbors of vacation rentals include houses directly adjacent to it, directly across and directly diagonal.

This was the first time the board met publicly to discuss possible action regarding short-term rental ordinances. One of the actions discussed was to require rental operators to provide a transaction privilege tax license number for their property. This tax works like normal sales tax for licensed businesses, and it would allow for more tax dollars being paid from these vacation rentals.

“The intent is the recognition of if it’s being treated as business,” Christleman said. “It was a request that we saw throughout our communities that there were impacts coming in, and from the lodging community second equity in taxation.”

New ordinances would also prohibit the use of rental properties for special events such as retail, restaurants and banquet spaces, as these events would normally require permits. According to the ordinance, vacation rental operators would see more financial penalties for violations.

Coconino County would reserve the right to suspend or issue fines to short-term rental operators if they were found violating certain offenses laid out in state statute.

These violations would have to go through a hearing process, where the county hearing officer would oversee an investigation into the citation and issue penalties.

The first violation in a 12-month period would be a $500 fine, the second is a $1,500 fine and a third violation would result in a $3,500 fine. After the fourth violation, the short-term rental permit would be up for revocation or suspension.

“In essence it’s providing a basis for people to be good neighbors with each other,” Horstman said. “People have spent their whole life in these neighborhoods, and they have children that play in the neighborhoods. It’s just a way to make the communities safe and secure.”

There was a hearing scheduled Feb. 28 with time on the agenda for public comment to discuss these issues further. The public can read the full extent of the proposed ordinance on the Coconino County website.

NAU expansion impacts Flagstaff community

TESS

The expansion of NAU over time has put pressure on the housing economy while continuing to encourage tourism in Flagstaff. Fall 2022 enrollment for Flagstaff mountain campus reached 21,411 total students.

Many Flagstaff locals see the growth of NAU as having a positive impact on the economy as well as sustainability efforts, contributing projects such as the NAU community garden. Others see this as a negative impact, claiming expansion worsens traffic congestion, water pollution and housing opportunities while losing the small town feel.

Adam Shimoni, who served as the vice mayor from 2018-2020 and city council member from 2020-2022, said he supports the expansion of NAU but recognizes flaws in the housing situation across Flagstaff as well.

“What we need to do is embrace the growth, embrace the change and make it work for us,” Shimoni said. “Whether that’s NAU’s growth or the city’s growth and the growing number of people moving to Flagstaff, Flagstaff is going to be one of those places that people are going to come to. We need to best make the growth work for us and not be victims to it.”

The growth of NAU and tourism in Flagstaff continues to positively impact Arizona’s economy. However, the expansion has created a housing crisis, some involving housing taken away from low-income communities and building luxury apartments targeted towards students instead, Shimoni said.

Interim Deputy City Manager and Economic Vitality Director for the City of Flagstaff, Heidi Hansen, said NAU students, parents and visitors help businesses in Flagstaff thrive.

“If you plucked NAU out of our town and put them somewhere else, our city would suffer,” Hansen said. “They are our largest employer, and they bring great value, exposure and economic impact to our community.”

As the population continues to grow, commitment to sustainability has become more prevalent throughout Flagstaff as well as the NAU community. A big contributor to this goal is the work done by community gardens, providing locally grown food and educating residents on how to live sustainably.

The NAU community garden, first started in 2008, is run by the Students for Sustainable Living and Urban Gardening (SSLUG) club, faculty and volunteers.

SSLUG garden works with local ecosystems to change the process of the current food system at NAU. There are many other community gardens around the city, all focusing on sustainability efforts.

“NAU, being a miniature version of a city, it’s important that they lead on different things,” Shimoni said. “Some of the first bike lanes in the city were on NAU, connecting north and south campus. Often what NAU will do will be implemented on the larger city level, so I think NAU taking leadership for their community garden is great to become more resilient.”

A presentation made by former NAU President Rita Cheng said the 2016 revenue of $550 million is set to increase to $720 million by the 2025 academic school year.

While Shimoni was in office, he was opposed to all student housing across Flagstaff, he said housing should not be accessible to students only. This led to newer buildings, such as Elara at the Sawmill, being more accommodating, creating a range of studios to 4-bedroom apartments, so it can be available to smaller groups, families and individuals as well.

The most important matter is how to house people long-term instead of only for college years, Shimoni said.

“NAU is our top employer, and they are a huge economic impact to our community,” Hansen said. “They not only educate the finest, but they also create a workforce. They employ over 4,300 people and we value their footprint in Flagstaff and northern Arizona.”

Along with housing complaints, traffic congestion has been argued to be incredibly worse during the school year. However, Shimoni said he does not agree with that argument because a majority of students use transportation other than cars due to the expense, whether that be paying for a vehicle or a NAU parking pass. Shimoni said the traffic issue is not with the students but rather the structure of the roads.