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Clear Creek commissioners deny appeal over abandoned short-term rental application
Summary
The Board denied Barbara Mertz’s appeal seeking reversal of an abandoned short-term rental (STR) application under county STR Ordinance 19, finding the building department made repeated attempts to obtain required materials and appropriately treated the incomplete file as abandoned.
The Clear Creek County Board of County Commissioners on Dec. 16 denied an appeal by property owner Barbara Mertz who sought reversal of an administrative determination that her short-term rental application was abandoned under STR Ordinance 19.
County counsel and building staff outlined a timeline showing Mertz held a prior permit but did not complete the required renewal/application in the 12/17–01/31 window and failed to submit required items (notably a site plan) after multiple notices. Staff described repeated outreach (including email and voicemail) and intermittent responses; after reminders and an extended grace period staff treated the application as abandoned and moved it off the active queue.
Mertz and her attorney said she submitted payment and an initial application in February and that some county emails were not received (they landed in spam) and that follow-up voicemail messages were not forwarded internally. Mertz argued the county’s communications were confusing and asked that the board reverse abandonment or grant her placement on the wait list with an effective date aligned to her February submission.
Commissioners questioned the record, including whether applicants were put on notice to apply via GovBuilt by a specific date, whether voicemails were routed correctly through the county’s phone tree, and whether staff had offered reasonable grace. The board concluded that staff had made repeated, documented attempts to obtain missing items and that allowing an exception would be unfair to applicants who complied. A commissioner motion to deny the appeal carried; officials advised Mertz she may submit a new, complete application and described next steps for the wait list.
