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Planning commission forwards recommendation to raise fines for short-term rental violations
Summary
The Cottonwood Heights Planning Commission on Dec. 4, 2024, voted to forward ZTA-24-04 to the City Council; the city-initiated zoning text amendment would increase financial penalties for violations of the city’s short-term rental ordinance. No other changes to the ordinance were proposed and no public comments were offered at the hearing.
The Cottonwood Heights Planning Commission voted Dec. 4, 2024, to forward a recommendation of approval to the City Council for ZTA-24-04, a city-initiated zoning text amendment that increases the fines for violating the city’s short-term rental ordinance.
Commission members acted after a short presentation and discussion; no members of the public spoke during the public-comment period for the item. A staff member described the proposal as an enforcement measure focused solely on raising penalties and said there were ongoing, separate policy and state-level discussions about short-term rentals that were not part of this amendment.
The commission’s action was strictly to forward a recommendation: the text amendment would revise the violations-and-penalties section of the existing short-term rental ordinance to increase potential financial penalties for operating a licensed short-term rental that does not comply with code or for operating an unlicensed short-term rental. The staff presentation characterized the proposal as an enforcement tool rather than a broader policy change.
Commissioner Mills moved to forward the recommendation of approval to the City Council for ZTA-24-04 “based on the findings listed in the staff memo and attachments dated Dec. 4, 2024.” Commissioner Shelton seconded. The recorded voice votes were all in favor, and the commission voted to forward the recommendation.
Votes at a glance - ZTA-24-04 (city-initiated zoning text amendment to increase fines in the short-term rental ordinance): Motion to forward recommendation of approval. Mover: Commissioner Mills. Second: Commissioner Shelton. Recorded votes: Commissioner Simon — yes; Commissioner Shelton — yes; Commissioner Mills — yes; Commissioner Smith — yes; Commissioner Paulson — yes; Chair — yes. Outcome: forwarded to City Council for consideration. - Approval of Planning Commission minutes (Oct. 16, 2024) with the discussed clerical corrections: Mover: Commissioner Smith. Second: not specified on the record. Outcome: approved by voice vote. - Adjournment: Motion made and seconded; outcome: approved by voice vote.
During the meeting the staff member noted the commission had held a more extensive discussion of the same topic during a prior work session; the Dec. 4 item was limited to the penalty increase. The staff member said other policy-level options and potential state legislative actions remain under discussion but were not included in ZTA-24-04. No public commenters provided testimony on the amendment at the Dec. 4 hearing.
The commission’s recommendation now goes to the Cottonwood Heights City Council for final action on the zoning text amendment. The staff memo and attachments referenced in the motion were cited as the basis for the commission’s findings; those documents were identified by staff at the hearing but are not reproduced here.
