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Wallsburg planning commissioners review draft short-term rental ordinance that would bar most Airbnbs in residential areas
Summary
Planning commissioners reviewed a draft ordinance to prohibit short-term rentals under 30 days in residential zones, allow hotels/motels/RV parks/bed-and-breakfasts via conditional use, and establish enforcement steps and fines; commissioners asked staff to refine definitions and prepare a public hearing packet.
Members of the Wallsburg Planning Commission on Jan. 21 reviewed a draft short-term rental ordinance that would bar short-term rental leases of fewer than 30 consecutive days in the town’s residential zones while allowing hotels, motels, RV parks, campgrounds and bed-and-breakfast operations through the conditional-use process.
The draft — prepared and presented by Spencer Foster — frames the policy as a tool to limit short-term rental proliferation in residential neighborhoods. “This ordinance says that these are not approved in Walsburg in residential areas, but that short term rentals are allowed if there's a hotel, a motel, an RV park, a campground, or bed and breakfast,” Foster said during the presentation.
Why it matters: commissioners said the town lacks the staffing and code-enforcement capacity to regulate transient rentals at scale and voiced concern about housing loss, parking and noise. Foster told commissioners that Utah law constrains enforcement practice: municipalities “can't restrict or prevent individuals from advertising their short term rental properties” and therefore must gather other evidence, public complaints or inspections before pursuing enforcement tied solely to an advertisement.
Key parts of the draft
- Thresholds and definitions: The ordinance treats residential leases of 30 or more consecutive days as long-term rentals; anything shorter is a short-term rental under the draft. Commissioners asked staff to add clear definitions distinguishing bed-and-breakfast operations from online-hosted short-term rentals to prevent easy reclassification.
- Conditional-use carve-outs: The draft would permit hotels, motels, RV parks, campgrounds and bed-and-breakfasts if approved under the town’s conditional-use process; commissioners directed staff to add explicit cross-references to the town’s conditional-use rules.
- Enforcement and penalties: The draft describes an enforcement sequence of written warning, then fines: Foster said the model used by other small towns imposes an initial $500 fine and, for continuing violations, fines up to $1,000 per day. Commissioners discussed appointing a code-enforcement official or contracting enforcement, and the limits on enforcement imposed by county and state law.
- Revenue tools: Foster noted the town could adopt a transient room tax (TRT) later to collect a share of lodging revenue; he described 1% as a common starting point and said adopting a TRT would force operators to appear on tax rolls, helping the town identify rentals.
What commissioners asked staff to do
Commissioners asked for clearer definitions (especially to distinguish bed-and-breakfasts from short-term rental listings), for language tying exempted uses to the conditional-use process, and for an explanation of how enforcement would work given Utah legal limitations on relying solely on advertisements. Foster asked the commission to send changes through Alicia O'Driscoll so staff could prepare an updated draft before a public hearing.
No final vote was taken; commissioners discussed next steps and indicated a public hearing and a recommendation to the town council would follow after further edits.
Ending
Staff will revise the draft ordinance with clarified definitions, conditional-use references and enforcement language and circulate the revision through Alicia O'Driscoll ahead of a public hearing. The commission did not take a formal vote on the ordinance at the Jan. 21 meeting.
