Photo by Hugh Carey / Summit Daily archives
Breckenridge Town Council is working to alleviate a housing shortage for residents but is losing units to the short-term rental market faster than new ones can be built.
At the Town Council work session Tuesday, March 9, Housing Manager Laurie Best talked about the pressure on the local housing market.
“The market is crazy and locals trying to get units is extremely difficult, and I think the employers are feeling it with not being able to hire,” Best said.
Best brought up the next workforce housing project the town has in the works, which will be south of the existing Blue 52 workforce housing complex. Best said the Town Council previously gave a thumbs up to two buildings in the new development, which the housing department plans to bring before the Breckenridge Planning Commission in May, but asked council if they would be interested in adding a third building. The additional building would add nine units to the development for a
Photo by. Liz Copan / Studio Copan
Breckenridge town staff estimates that there are more than 100 residences in town where a room or lock-off unit is rented out short-term, and the town council plans to do something about it.
Community Development Director Mark Truckey explained during a Breckenridge Town Council work session Tuesday, Feb. 23, that the town planning commission is concerned about an increasing number of short-term rental units in town. He explained that new single-family residential proposals include areas that easily could be converted into lock-off apartments, potentially creating a second short-term rental unit on the property.
However, Truckey said many new home plans include areas that could be used as apartments but technically aren’t required to be deed restricted because they don’t include a separate kitchen. Truckey said that while staff plans to clarify what constitutes an accessory dwelling unit that must be deed restricted, he doesn’t think the is
Breckenridge will be placing security personnel on Main Street during the spring break period in March to enforce public health orders and town ordinances, including mask-wearing in the town’s mandatory mask zone. The Breckenridge Town.
Photo by Liz Copan / Summit Daily archives
Breckenridge Town Council and Breckenridge Tourism Office officials said Tuesday that they intend to reassess the town’s events after the pandemic, undertaking a renewed focus on what tourism office President Lucy Kay described as “responsible tourism.”
“The goal that we’ll have and it’s consistent with other more progressive (destination-marketing organizations) is looking for ways we can target guests whose value sets align with ours,” Kay said Tuesday. “… Figure out who are people who think about the environment, who think about other people, who think about the world in a similar way to us, and try to invite those people in first.”
Photo by Hugh Carey / Summit Daily archives
It could be left to voters whether the town of Breckenridge will permit cannabis lounges.
The Breckenridge Town Council on Tuesday suggested medical marijuana attorney Jeff Gard circulate a petition to see if a “citizens-initiated ordinance” can gain enough signatures to put the legalization of so-called “marijuana hospitality businesses” on the ballot in Breckenridge.
On behalf of his client, Breckenridge Organic Therapy, Gard asked council members whether they would be interested in executing an ordinance to change the law in lieu of petitioning residents.
“This is a can of worms for the council if we put this on the ballot ourselves,” Breckenridge Mayor Eric Mamula said. “… You have the right to go to the electors and get a 650-name petition, and let the voters in town decide. That’s 15% of the electorate.”