The Yukon Planning Commission on Dec. 8 voted to recommend an amendment to the municipal code and Unified Development Code that removes a requirement that short-term rental applicants demonstrate compliance with privately held covenants, conditions and restrictions. Staff and counsel argued the city should not be responsible for interpreting private HOA covenants.

Staff member Danielle outlined the current enforcement framework and penalties, saying, "The first one is $200 a day, and so that is their their first offense," and describing escalation for repeat violations and a three-strike license revocation process. Commissioners debated whether penalties should include a permanent prohibition on reapplication and whether the amendment should be retroactive; staff said retroactive penalties would not be applied and recommended changes apply going forward.

Commissioners discussed a range of responses for people who operate short-term rentals without a license — from warnings and enforcement of existing fines to a potential grace period to help those who acted unknowingly come into compliance. Several commissioners urged enforcement of the existing fine structure rather than adding a lifetime ban; one commissioner proposed a grace period or strike system to balance enforcement with staff workload.

Roger Reinhart (staff/counsel) and planning staff explained that removing HOA enforcement language would make decisions clearer and reduce the need for the city to interpret private legal contracts. The commission voted to strike the code language that required proof of compliance with private covenants and to remove provisions that would categorically bar reapplication in some cases; the action was forwarded to the city council for final consideration.

The planning commission did not adopt a new grace-period rule at the hearing; commissioners asked staff to consider enforcement approaches and reminded the public that special-use permit and licensing processes remain the path for short-term rental authorization. The commission also noted that licenses can be revoked after repeated violations and that the licensing process includes renewal and annual compliance checks.