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Planning commission continues overhaul of extended‑stay ordinance, questions 60‑day threshold and licensing
Summary
Commission spent the bulk of the July 15 meeting refining a draft extended‑stay ordinance: members debated whether the 60‑day threshold creates conflicting definitions, agreed to create a separate extended‑stay license, clarified the town’s authority to deny or suspend licenses for 'good reason,' and deferred final decisions pending redrafting and sample licenses from neighboring towns.
The commission devoted a large portion of its July 15 meeting to a line‑by‑line review of an "extended‑stay" ordinance draft intended to supplement the town’s short‑term rental rules. Staff and members accepted many minor grammatical edits but focused on several substantive issues that need clarification before the commission forwards the draft to the town council.
Primary concerns included the 60‑day threshold used in multiple locations of the draft. Commissioners noted the draft used the 60‑day period in ways that could create conflicting meanings for "transient" versus "extended‑stay" guests. Commissioner Jim Donaldson proposed changing one clause to 61 days to avoid overlap and recommended creating a distinct extended‑stay license form so administrators could track longer stays. Staff said they would request sample license forms from nearby municipalities for reference.
The commission simplified a paragraph describing when the town may deny or suspend a license, proposing a shorter "good reason" standard (harm to public health, illegal activity, operation beyond the license scope, ordinance violation) rather than the earlier, more cumbersome "cause" wording. Members also discussed enforcement tools including annual fire inspections, cleaning expectations tied to public health codes, and the proper statutory references; there was discussion about whether to keep a reference to the "Utah Fit Premises Act" or to rely on generic public health code language.
Other editorial and policy issues included appliance language (members agreed permanent installed cooktops or ranges are clearer than the term "hot plate"), clarifying that extended‑stay rooms are limited to 25% of available rooms unless a property is converted to long‑term apartments, and removing redundant paragraphs. The commission agreed not to forward the ordinance yet and scheduled further work: staff will collect sample license forms, redraft ambiguous sections (particularly section 6), and return the revised draft for further review at a scheduled work meeting.
"Bicknell Town or its representative may deny a license request or suspend an existing license for good reason," a staff summary read during discussion as commissioners rephrased the prior text to be shorter and clearer. The commission voted to pause forwarding the draft and to reconvene with revised language and examples from other towns.
