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Mesilla trustees hold public hearing on proposed short-term rental ordinance; no vote taken
Summary
Trustees heard public comment and staff briefing on a draft short-term rental ordinance that would add permitting, fees and distance/density limits; residents urged changes to a 200-foot separation rule and asked that long-running rentals be grandfathered and lodging-tax mapping be fixed.
The Mesilla Board of Trustees held a public hearing on Nov. 25 on a proposed short-term rental ordinance drafted by staff and an ad hoc committee; no decision was made and the board will continue review at a work session.
The presiding chair opened the hearing and explained the draft — posted online and published in legal notices — is intended to regulate short-term rentals (STRs), require permits, establish inspection and fee rules and improve lodgers-tax accountability. Eddie Salazar, who led the STR ad hoc committee’s outreach, told trustees the committee worked about three months to balance owner needs and resident concerns and that the draft reflects compromises reached by committee members.
Several residents urged the board to adjust parts of the draft. Catherine Walkinshaw said the proposed 200-foot separation from Mesilla’s historic-residential (HR) zone would effectively bar many local property owners from supplementing household income and could make sales harder for owners who rely on STR revenue; she recommended alternative tools such as limiting annual permit issuances or exempting long-established operators so they can be brought into compliance. Walkinshaw also raised technical concerns that online-platform address data can route lodging taxes to Las Cruces rather than Mesilla and asked staff to fix how addresses are mapped so the town receives tax revenue.
Tina Winter, who described ad hoc committee research, said national studies show STRs account for a small share of rent increases and that most local operators are residents using STRs to keep or restore homes. Winter asked the board to treat STRs equitably in the fee schedule and questioned why the draft would impose distance or density limits on STRs that are not applied to other businesses.
Trustees pressed staff on how RA and RF residential zones are handled; staff said the draft treats STRs in RA/RF as special-use permits because lots there tend to be larger and density concerns are smaller than in the HR zone. Staff and trustees agreed to continue detailed questions in a Dec. 9 work session and to produce maps and percentage-based density options for board review.
The chair closed the hearing at 5:49 p.m., noting the draft is for discussion only and will return for further review; the board did not vote on the ordinance.
