Jefferson County explains draft short-term rental rules: 30-minute local contact, 750-foot investor buffer and new enforcement plan

Jefferson County planning staff presented a draft package of short-term rental regulations at a hybrid public meeting meant to explain the text and gather public comment. The draft would create an administrative licensing process, require a local on-call representative able to reach a property within 30 minutes, limit investor-owned STRs to one licensed property per owner in unincorporated Jefferson County and impose a 750-foot separation buffer for investor STRs. The county is accepting written comments through July 20 (year not specified in the meeting) and staff said they expect the regulations and a companion ordinance to be recorded for Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners hearings later in the year.

Why it matters: The proposed package aims both to expand who may qualify for a license compared with the existing Board of Adjustment special-exception route and to make enforcement more effective. Planning staff described the rules as one element of a three-part approach that also includes an enforcement ordinance (to enable larger fines and direct requests to listing platforms) and a Host Compliance contract for advertisement monitoring and a 24-hour complaint hotline. "The intent is to get compliance, not to go to citations," a planning staff member said.

Most significant points

- Administrative licensing: The county would replace the current two-step Board of Adjustment process with a black-and-white administrative license. Staff said a complete application would be processed in the order received and that incomplete "placeholder" submissions will be rejected. If adopted, the county intends to begin accepting license applications about 30 days after BCC approval of the regulations.

- Local representative:…