Wallsburg planners consider ordinance to bar short-term rentals in residential areas, set fines and permit route for hotels/bed-and-breakfasts

Spencer Foster, a staff member who drafted the language, presented a short-term rental ordinance and said it would ban short-term rentals in Wallsburg’s residential areas while still allowing hotels, motels, RV parks, campgrounds and bed-and-breakfasts if those uses were approved or located in a commercial zone.

The proposal would define short-term rental as residential leases under 30 consecutive days and treat hotels and similar lodging as distinct uses subject to the town’s conditional-use process. Foster said, “this ordinance says that these are not approved in Walsburg in residential areas” and that hotels, motels or bed-and-breakfasts “would be allowed in the zone that is for, like commercial.”

Commission members discussed how the town could prevent operators from claiming a listing is a bed-and-breakfast to avoid the restriction. Foster advised the commission to add clear definitions and a permitting or conditional-use requirement so any lodging claimed as a bed-and-breakfast would have to be reviewed and approved: “They would have to bring their Airbnb or their bed and breakfast to the planning commission and get it approved. Or if you set up a process for permitting, they would have to come in and and show you that that this is a bed and breakfast.”

Foster explained how Utah law limits enforcement steps tied solely to advertising: “It says that you can't restrict or prevent individuals from advertising their short term rental properties. And you can't, you can't punish them for the advertisement and say, hey. You advertised your Airbnb. I'm gonna shut you down because of that advertisement.” He described alternate investigative steps the town could use (data collection, public complaints, targeted inspections) to determine whether a listing was operating in violation of local rules.

On penalties, Foster said the draft follows what other small towns have adopted: a written warning for a first violation, a $500 fine for a second violation and an escalating $1,000-per-day fine for continuing violations. “I put a $500 fine because that's what most towns are doing... every other town is doing $1,000 per day for continuing the violation,” he said.

Commission members discussed a transient room tax (TRT) as a possible future revenue source if the town ever hosted hotels or other transient lodging. Foster said implementing a TRT would be a separate town ordinance and would require notice to the county; he gave a working example of a 1% TRT used by other small towns. He noted that a TRT would also make short-term rentals visible on tax rolls, helping the town identify unreported listings.

The commission did not vote on the ordinance. Commissioners and staff agreed to make edits, clarify definitions (including a clear bed-and-breakfast definition), change county references in the draft from “Utah County” to “Wasatch County,” and circulate revisions for review. Foster asked commissioners to send suggested changes to Alicia O'Driscoll for consolidation and draft updates: “Just send all any of your changes or your additions or whatever to Alicia. And she can send them my way, and we can make any changes, edits, and before it goes to public hearing.”

Next steps discussed included revising the draft, scheduling a public hearing to solicit comment, and returning the ordinance to the commission for a vote to recommend it to the town council. The commission scheduled a follow-up meeting and indicated the short-term rental ordinance would go to public hearing before a formal recommendation or council vote.

Ending note: Commissioners emphasized the town’s limited enforcement capacity and the value of keeping the draft ordinance straightforward so residents can understand it; they asked staff to return with a revised draft ahead of a public hearing date.