HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Town Board Study Session 2024-05-28RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado May 28, 2024
Minutes of a Study Session meeting of the TOWN BOARD of the Town of
Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held at Town Hall in the
Board Room in said Town of Estes Park on the 28th day of May, 2024.
Board: Mayor Hall, Trustees Brown, Cenac, Hazelton, Igel,
Lancaster, and Younglund
Attending: All
Also Attending:
Town Administrator Machalek, Deputy Town Administrator
Damweber, Town Attorney Kramer, Town Clerk Williamson
and Deputy Town Clerk Beers
Absent: None.
Mayor Pro Tem Cenac called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Mayor Hall arrived at
approximately 4:16 p.m.
CIRSA LIABILITY AND RISK AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL. Tami Tanoue/CIRSA
Executive Director provided a presentation on ethics, liability, and best practices for
elected officials. The presentation focused on enhancing the effectiveness and success
of the Town Board members and in turn reducing the risk to the Town and the individual
member. She reviewed Open Meetings law and Open Records law, transparency rules
and the need for transparency, quasi-judicial issues, social media and differences
between legislative and administrative matters. She reviewed the role of a public official,
ethical obligations, organizational structure and liability, involvement in personnel
matters, board and staff roles and due process requirements.
BED & BREAKFAST AND VACATION HOME CAP.
Town Clerk Williamson provided an outline on the history and current vacation home
license numbers and requested Board direction on the vacation home cap for
residentially zoned properties. At the March 26, 2024 Board meeting, staff presented a
report and discussion item on bed & breakfast (B&B) code amendments. Board
consensus was: owner/on-site manager (innkeeper) is to reside in the same unit as the
B&B, the innkeeper is to interact with the guests and be available within 30 minutes, the
B&B must offer breakfast to its guests, no transferring of the grandfathered use, a
drawing of the property to outline common areas, guest only areas, and innkeeper only
areas, and the need for a life safety inspection for all B&Bs. Town Clerk Williamson
provided a high-level overview of B&B discussions, proposed code amendments and an
outline of previous grandfathering options including: Option 1 — no change to the current
code regulations; Option 2 — adoption of the revised code regulations with a grace
period for current licenses to come into compliance; Option 3 — partial grandfathering to
include a drawing and life safety inspections; and Option 4 — grandfather current
licenses until the property transfers or no longer operates as a B&B. At the April 9,
2024, meeting the Board consensus was Option 2; however, the Board requested the
newly seated Board, following the April 2024 election, review and provide feedback
before final code amendments were drafted. Staff stated Option 2 would align with
vacation home regulation implementation in 2017. Staff requested Board direction on
code amendments and grandfathering options. Board discussion has been summarized:
clarification was requested on the B&B commercial property tax rates; support was
stated for a grace period while staff research options for hosted short-term rentals
including possible code modifications, and hosted rentals may provide a higher quality
rental offering in a residential areas. Clarification was provided regarding the prohibition
of vacation home licenses and B&B's on the same residential lot as an accessory
dwelling unit, attached or detached.
RECORD mpPROCEEDINGS
Town Board Study Session — May 2D,2O24—Page 2
After further conversadnn, the consensus was to maintain the existing omNenda|
vacation home license cap of 322 and support the proposed amendments and
grandfathering Option 2 with discussion on hosted short term nanto|a at a future
meeting. Staff would draft an ordinance for Board consideration at a future meeting.
MAYQR/TRUQTEETALKS.
Mayor Hall proposed attending more Trustee Talk sessions versus forming aoeporate
Mayor's Chat and requested feedback from the Board. Board comments have been
summarized: Benefits and impacts for expanding Board attendance with two Trustees
and the Mayor; two Trustees inattendance may bealess intimidating and casual forum;
the benefits of holding Mayor's chats throughout the community; importance of
optimizing public attendance and participation; and the opportunities for Trustees to get
to know each other outside of official meetings. The Mayor would consider the feedback
and options.
TRUSTEE & ADMINISTRATOR COMMENTS &QUESTIONS.
None.
FUTURE STUDY SESSION AGENDA ITEMS.
It was determined to add an update on new locations for the Police Department to
There being no further business, Mayor Hail adjourned the meeting at 6:39 p.m.
Victoria Beers eputy Town Clerk