Custer County approves two short-term rentals, opens discussion on countywide moratorium

The Custer County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 13 approved two short-term rental (STR) applications and discussed a possible countywide moratorium to allow staff and the planning commission time to revise STR rules.

Dorothy Parson, Custer County planning and zoning director, told the board the Planning Commission had unanimously recommended approval of Vernon Yoder’s STR application. “The vote was unanimous. All 7 members of the board voted to approve to recommend approval of the Vernon Yoder short term rental,” she said.

The board moved, seconded and voted to approve the Yoder application. The motion passed and was recorded as an approval for the application; the board did not record a detailed roll-call in the transcript extract but the vote was taken and the motion carried.

The board then considered the Horton application. Parson said the Planning Commission’s recommendation on the Horton application was split and noted concerns staff could not fully verify in the record: “I was not able to confirm the size of that tank. So rather than say it’s okay to have 8 people stay the night, I would prefer to say 6, if you choose to approve.” Planning staff also flagged issues including a shared driveway and questions about lot density and easement access.

Commissioners debated whether to approve the Horton application with conditions meant to limit local impacts. The board voted to accept the Horton application with conditions including a reduced occupancy tied to verified septic capacity (the planning director recommended limiting occupancy to six and limiting bedrooms), a requirement that house rules be posted (including a condition against outside fires) and documentation of any shared-driveway permission from neighbors. The board recorded the motion as passing (tally recorded in minutes as yes: 2, no: 1).

Brush Creek Holdings and a Grafton application were pulled by applicants before their hearings and were not considered. The board also scheduled a workshop to update county STR policy. Planning staff and commissioners said the purpose of a moratorium would be to provide time to address several recurring issues that have arisen under the existing regulations: how to measure and limit density in neighborhoods, septic capacity and inspection discrepancies, shared-driveway access, and rules for vehicle parking and nuisance complaints.

Planning staff described the current caseload: the transcript indicates the county now has roughly 50–51 registered STRs. Commissioners and residents discussed the effect of density and parking on neighborhoods; one public commenter urged the board to avoid decisions based on hypothetical complaints and to limit opposition to documented violations.

Commissioners directed staff to draft a proposed moratorium and to place the moratorium and proposed regulatory changes on a future agenda for public workshop and formal hearing. The board did not adopt any moratorium at this meeting; commissioners said the moratorium language should be drafted by legal staff and returned for formal action at a future meeting.

Votes at a glance - Vernon Yoder short-term rental application — approved (motion recorded and passed) - Horton short-term rental application — approved with conditions (motion recorded as passing, tally recorded as yes:2 no:1) - Brush Creek Holdings, Grafton STRs — applicants pulled applications prior to hearing (no action taken)

Ending The board asked planning staff to present recommended language and a timeline for a moratorium and regulatory workshop at an upcoming meeting; no moratorium was enacted at this session.