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Bicknell council pauses final approval for theater Airbnb, asks planning commission to update short-term rental rules
Summary
At a July 31 Bicknell work meeting, council members discussed two proposed short-term rentals — upstairs at the town theater and a multiunit property at 209 East — and agreed to ask the planning and zoning commission to review the town's short-term rental and Main Street zoning language before any final approvals.
Curtis Allred, a prospective buyer of Bicknell's downtown theater, told the Bicknell Town work meeting on July 31 that he intends to operate the theater's upstairs as a short‑term rental to help keep the theater open.
"The idea of the Airbnb is to save this theater, and a long term rental would not achieve that. We're currently losing about $20,000 a year keeping that open," Curtis Allred said.
The council's discussion centered on a mismatch between the town's short‑term rental ordinance and state health approvals for septic systems, and on whether two proposed projects — Allred's theater conversion and a separate short‑term rental application for a building at 209 East owned by Miguel — should be treated as commercial uses on Main Street or as residential uses that require separate septic and water hookups.
Why it matters: Both applicants said they need clarity before closing or continuing rehabilitation. Council members said the theater conversion could help preserve a downtown business but that the town's ordinance language on short‑term rentals is dated and unclear when an STR is part of an existing building rather than a detached unit. That ambiguity affects whether applicants must install separate septic and water services or whether an existing state‑approved system suffices.
Council discussion and key details
Council members repeatedly declined to grant final approval at the meeting. Several members said they do not want to make ad‑hoc exceptions to ordinances. "I hate to make exceptions to ordinances because once you do that once, you don't have an ordinance anymore," one council member said during debate.
Applicants and staff described the practical constraints: the town ordinance currently reads as if short‑term rentals are standalone units that require separate septic and water lines. Applicants and some commissioners said state health rules size septic systems by number of bedrooms and that an existing, state‑approved system may already be adequate. A planning commissioner noted the health department has different guidance and that septic requirements for short‑term rentals may need updating in the town code.
Miguel, who said he purchased the building at 209 East and has spent about $30,000 renovating three units, asked the council to consider short‑term rental use to cover operating losses. "In the last year I've spent ... about $30,000. So I'm losing money running it as a long term rental," Miguel said, describing the financial pressures of keeping units habitable.
Zoning questions: Main Street versus Highway 24
Council members also discussed whether the town's commercial area should be defined by a local "Main Street" designation or by Highway 24. Planning and zoning commissioners have recommended aligning the commercial zone to Highway 24 so the town's commercial area can grow with future annexations; the topic has been discussed repeatedly and has not been finalized.
Next steps and direction
Council members agreed they could not finalize approvals at the meeting and directed staff and planning and zoning to re‑examine short‑term rental language and the Main Street/Highway 24 zoning definition. Planning and zoning said it could call an out‑of‑cycle meeting to consider revisions, but commissioners cautioned that summer schedules make quorums uncertain.
Council members asked planning and zoning to try to produce revisions quickly; applicants said they needed a decision before their financing and closing deadlines (applicants identified a closing deadline near the town's mention of "the fourteenth"). One council member summarized: "We'll just see what comes up with planning and zoning and go from there."
No formal vote or ordinance change was made at the July 31 meeting; council members said any revision would need to return for formal action on a future agenda.
Ending
Applicants left the meeting with a clear direction to pursue expedited review from the planning and zoning commission; council members emphasized they do not want to bypass formal ordinance revisions to accommodate individual projects.
