Resident urges Orderville to record DBAs and cabin names after rental-name dispute

Amy Landman, a Quarter Circle H property owner who rents a cabin in town, asked the Orderville Town Board during public comment to require businesses to submit both their legal business name and any DBAs or individual cabin names used for short-term rentals.

Landman told the board she has used the name “Stargazer Cabin” for nearly three years and recently found another property being advertised with the same name, which she said creates booking confusion and potential reputational harm. "If someone comes to you guys and wants the name, it's very simple, very straightforward. If it's not used, great. If it is being used, then you have to pick something else," she said.

Board members and other residents discussed how the town currently handles business licenses. Staff said the town stores the legal business name (for example, LF Venture LLC) in an internal spreadsheet but does not track individual cabin names. Representatives from a local resort said their individual cabin names are marketing labels and not registered DBAs. The board acknowledged that requiring DBAs would be feasible but noted it might not resolve cases where a resort markets unit names without creating separate DBAs.

One board member summarized the practical limits: requiring DBAs on the town business-license form is possible, but it will not necessarily stop marketing practices that do not register as DBAs. Another participant added that many cabin names are simple, common words (for example, "Zion" or "Stargazer") that appear across the region and would be hard to uniquely regulate.

The board agreed to follow up on Landman's request, with staff to investigate adding a DBA field to the business-license application and report back. No formal ordinance change or vote was taken at the meeting.

Landman said she had also filed a state DBA and brought documents to show prior use; board members advised that state registration can establish precedence but noted the town's ability to enforce name use is limited unless the name is registered locally as a DBA or protected by trademark or other legal means.

The discussion concluded with the board agreeing to explore options for collecting DBA information on future business-license applications and to report back at a later meeting.