Cottonwood Heights urges local control as state short‑term rental bill advances

Cottonwood Heights officials told visiting state lawmakers that short‑term rentals are creating enforcement and housing-supply problems for their city and pressed for state policy that preserves local authority.

“There's about 500 illegal short‑term rentals in our city,” a city official said, arguing that enforcement under the current rules is "very tricky" and that the community risks being overrun if local tools are removed. Brian Allen, the city's contracted lobbyist, and others discussed a pending preemption bill that would limit municipal regulation of the operation of short‑term rentals statewide.

Legislators in the room described work toward a compromise modeled on an Arizona approach that requires business licensing and a three‑strikes delisting process: platforms would be required to remove repeat violators after local citations, while cities would retain the ability to require business licenses and enforce safety and nuisance rules. An attendee urged lawmakers to ask whether legislation could allow platforms and municipalities to "meet in the middle."

City staff and council members said the local consequences include loss of long‑term housing and proliferation of investor‑owned short‑term units near the canyons, where visitor demand is high. One council member warned that if the state substantially increased residential exemptions or otherwise shifted property‑tax burden to commercial owners, cities with small commercial bases could lose revenue and be forced to raise local taxes to compensate.

City officials asked legislators to preserve municipal enforcement options—permit and license requirements, nuisance citations and the ability to remove repeat offenders from platforms—rather than adopt full preemption. The discussion closed with participants noting ongoing negotiations and work to draft compromise language.