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Short-Term Rental Business License Ordinance

At a glance

  • What: Ordinance 38 of 2026 (Chapter 5.13 of the City Code), enacted with the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget, which requires short-term rental business licenses. The Council is weighing amendments.
  • Where it stands: At the July 14, 2026 work session the Council held a follow-up briefing. A straw poll supported keeping the ordinance, adopted and published July 1, 2026, in effect while staff develops amendments. All members present were in favor; Puy was absent.
  • Next: Staff to return with information requested by members and potential amendments.

Detail

Allison Rowland introduced the item and Mark Kittrell reviewed the ordinance: licensing requirements, application and operating standards, multifamily limits, local contact requirements, enforcement and penalties. Standards discussed include a 10 percent multifamily limit, a two-night minimum stay and a 200-night annual maximum. Members, Kittrell, Arturo Garcia and Lehua Weaver discussed:

  • Enforcement, including verifying self-reported rental activity.
  • How the 10 percent multifamily limit applies to condominiums with multiple owners.
  • The purpose of the minimum and maximum nights: reducing nuisance activity and keeping units mainly for housing.
  • How to treat existing operators, and the difficulty of identifying those who operated before licensing began.
  • Balancing housing availability with rentals as income or investment.
  • Whether implementation should continue while amendments are drafted.

Requests to staff: Petro asked for more review of the condominium question; Dugan asked for short-term rental rules in Utah municipalities and comparable cities elsewhere, including night limits and enforcement; Wharton asked for data on rentals' effect on housing availability, and for options to notify operators of the license requirement, including whether state law allows outreach using information from rental websites (Kittrell said staff would review the legal requirements).

At the July 21 formal meeting, Benjamin Fouts told the Council during general comments that he had concerns about how the licensing process was implemented and asked whether existing operators had a fair and transparent opportunity to get a license.

Sources

Log

2026-07-21 - City Council Formal Meeting

Benjamin Fouts raised concerns during general comments about the fairness and transparency of the license process for existing operators.

2026-07-14 - City Council Formal Meeting

During general comments five speakers addressed the ordinance. Richard Oldham asked the Council to reconsider the 200-night annual limit, saying it could hurt financial viability, reduce lodging options and favor hotels. Ashley Moretz asked it to reconsider the 10 percent cap in certain downtown condominium buildings, citing property values and rental income. Amy Stevenson asked for amendments to the 10 percent building cap, grandfathering of existing operators and the two-night minimum and annual night limit. Brent Stevenson supported regulation but asked for reconsideration of the cap and the two-night minimum, noting existing enforcement tools for nuisances. Reza Fakhrieh, a condominium owner, supported licensing but opposed the cap and asked that qualifying buildings be exempted or existing units grandfathered.

2026-07-14 - City Council Work Session

Follow-up briefing on Ordinance 38 of 2026; requests from Petro, Dugan and Wharton; straw poll to keep the ordinance in effect while amendments are developed (unanimous of those present).

2026-06-16 - LBA, CRA and Council Formal Meeting

Ordinance 38 of 2026 (Title 5, short-term rental business licenses, new Chapter 5.13) adopted 7-0 as part of the budget-related en bloc motion (moved by Carlsen, seconded by Petro). The motion also asked the Administration to add a specific list of required fire and safety equipment, such as carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, to the City checklist used in the applicant's self-certification.

2026-06-16 - City Council Work Session

Briefing: Tammy Hunsaker and Arturo Garcia presented the licensing ordinance: eligibility, multifamily limits, minimum stays, recordkeeping, enforcement, fines, suspension and revocation. Discussion with Jaysen Oldroyd of the City Attorney's office, Nick Norris, Lehua Weaver and staff covered multifamily limits, the link to future zoning rules, enforcement resources and possible use of licensing and lodging-tax revenue, effects on long-term housing supply, the two-night minimum to reduce nuisances, and state-law limits on municipal regulation. Straw poll: require self-certification of carbon monoxide detector installation as part of licensing, all present in favor. Puy asked that smoke and carbon monoxide detector requirements be considered; Norris said they could be added to the licensing requirements section.

2026-06-02 - LBA, CRA and Council Formal Meeting

Public hearing on the proposed Chapter 5.13 held with the budget items (item G18); closed and referred to a future date (Young/Wharton; 6-0).

2026-05-19 - LBA, CRA and Council Formal Meeting

Item I-18 (enacting Chapter 5.13 on short-term rental business licenses) was heard in the combined budget hearing; no speaker is recorded on it. Hearing closed 6-0 and a second hearing set for June 2, 2026.