Hearing officer moves to approve short-term rental at 2591 E. Canterbury Lane with tighter occupancy and parking limits

Cottonwood Heights — City staff recommended approval of a conditional-use permit (CUP-25-015) for a two-bedroom short-term rental at 2591 East Canterbury Lane, and the hearing officer moved to approve the application with tightened occupancy and parking conditions.

At the Nov. 5 administrative hearing, staff said the unit is in an R2B planned-unit development that meets city zoning standards and that the application satisfied the short-term rental code requirements. Staff noted one formal written opposition and two phone inquiries about whether the homeowners association (HOA) prohibits short-term rentals.

Applicant Natalie Higginson told the hearing the application includes a CC&R excerpt she received at purchase but that she had not contacted the HOA directly. "We really only want to allow one car in the designated covered parking and no more than four people," Higginson said, adding that the numbers were subject to discussion.

Several nearby residents told the hearing they opposed allowing the property to operate as a short-term rental. "Our homeowners voted that we did not want short-term rentals in our community," said Julie Gerbets Aubrey, a Canterbury Lane condo resident, who said the property manager and other residents support the HOA position. Aubrey cited concerns about nuisance behavior, parking and the potential effect on neighborhood stability.

Other residents raised noise, shared-service and dumpster issues and questioned whether the new owners intended the unit as an investment property. Anna Farnsworth said she would accept occasional in-home rentals by residents but opposed an investment-owned STR and recommended limiting occupants to two in practice. Laurie Gibbs cited problems with property maintenance and said four guests would be excessive for the two-bedroom unit.

During review, commissioners asked staff to pull up the applicable sections of city code. Staff pointed to the short-term rental standards (including chapter 19.89 and related code sections) and said that while code allows up to eight occupants in a two-bedroom unit under the numeric maximums, the applicant had offered to limit occupancy to four. Staff also confirmed the ordinance requires off-street parking and that a 24-hour hotline must be posted on the property for nuisance complaints; the city does not enforce HOA CC&Rs.

Inspector staff said the required signage and other conditions would be checked during the inspection before a license is issued.

The hearing officer moved to approve CUP-25-015 with the following modifications: revise the occupancy condition to a maximum of four persons in the unit; add a condition limiting parking to one vehicle on the property; and require compliance with all other listed ordinance standards. The transcript records the motion and direction to finalize application details with staff; it does not include a recorded roll-call vote or tally.