Steamboat Springs’ approach to enforcing short-term rental licensing has come under intense scrutiny, as mounting evidence reveals a pattern of abrupt, punitive action with no prior notice or warning for property owners, leaving many feeling blindsided, financially devastated and ignored by their local government.

The wave of frustration among local STR operators has prompted the Steamboat Springs City Council to consider whether the current policy is fair and effective, or in need of reform.

In June 2022, council approved new STR regulations, including the creation of an overlay zone map that divided the city into green, yellow and red zones, each with different restrictions on STRs.

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As of January 2023, all STR operators were required to obtain a city-issued license to operate legally, with the deadline for compliance set as April 30, 2023, and noncompliance subject to fines and penalties. These changes marked a shift from a more informal system to a highly regulated environment, with strict enforcement and limited exceptions for existing operators who could prove legal nonconforming status.

New rules, no warnings

Since implementing the new system, the city has opted against issuing warnings or notices to property owners in noncompliance. Instead, the city’s policy is to send an immediate court summons and citation, a process codified in city ordinances.

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“We don’t give a notice. We don’t give a warning. We issue a citation to court,” explained Planning and Community Development Director Rebecca Bessey. “There is no warning process, and that is really laid out clearly in the code that we will send the summons, and then it establishes the potential fines of $2,650 per violation per day, as well as the two-year ban if found guilty.”

Bessey emphasized the city’s extensive public outreach when the regulations were changed, including public meetings, Q&A sessions and information published in the Steamboat Pilot & Today. 

“Did some people get missed? Did some people not know? Probably,” said Bessey. “I can’t speak to each individual situation, right?”

“I can tell you, we have over 2,000 licensed properties. The vast majority of property owners were aware,” she added. “They clearly had no difficulty understanding our basic licensing requirements and submitted license applications on time.”

By comparison, the town of Telluride, which also requires STR operators to have a license, seems to demonstrate more leniency. 

According to Telluride STR Program Administrator Ashley Berard, the town begins the enforcement process by sending two notices via mail, which provide clear instructions on how to get into compliance, giving property owners approximately three months to resolve the issue. When owners do come into compliance, they will be required to pay late fees and back taxes with additional penalties.

“We’re very much like, ‘We want to bring you into compliance the easy way, so let’s work together.’ As long as people are willing to work with me, I’m not trying to slap them with additional fines or fees. I just want them to be in compliance, so they’re getting plenty of notice,” said Berard. “They definitely don’t just get a random court date in the mail saying, ‘Hey, you are in violation, you’re in trouble, we’ll see you at court.'”

For some STR owners in Steamboat, however, the city’s enforcement has meant a sudden court summons and the threat of massive fines — often after years of what they believed was compliant operation.

STR owners speak out

Kim Haggarty and Pat Waters, longtime residents and business owners, described their experience during the public comment period at council’s regular meeting on June 3 after receiving a citation for illegally operating an STR in the red zone since 2023.

“We received a notice in March about a violation for our Airbnb. No prior notice, no prior warning, nothing. We are looking at a $260,000 fine. Ninety-one violations,” said Haggarty, speaking on behalf of her partner, Waters, whose name is on the deed for the property. “This is only going back one year. And what we kept getting from the city is, ‘We can’t comment, we can’t comment.'”

“All you had to do was tell us. That’s all you had to say. ‘Hey, Kim and Pat, shut down your Airbnb,'” she continued. “We have a court date on July 2 and we are going to fight this. We’re going to fight this hard … I have a really big mouth for all of you who don’t know me, so I suggest you guys figure this out, because I’m pissed.”

“I would’ve liked to be notified less than two years later after the $2,650 fine per (day),” said Waters as Haggarty walked out of the room. “That’s not fair to rack that up that long.” 

Tyler Hartung, who spends most of his time in Denver, recounted a similar experience. Like Haggarty and Waters, he received a notice — two years later — for illegally operating his late mother’s STR in the red zone. 

“We weren’t informed saying, ‘Hey, you’re missing a step,’ we were informed via 90 pages of trying to ‘bust us’ that we’d been short-term renting, which we weren’t trying to hide, and thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars of fines,” said Hartung. 

“We’re just a family that’s been here trying to keep a place in Steamboat,” added Hartung. “All we needed was someone to tell us, ‘Hey, you’re out of compliance.'”

Hartung described how, after being told by the city that he was in compliance, a family emergency distracted him from following local news. 

“No one communicates. No one communicates, right?” said Hartung. “I live in Denver. I’m not following Steamboat newspaper stuff … I didn’t know this whole time.”

When Hartung finally received a summons, he completed the necessary steps to come into compliance within five days. The city responded with a proposed fine of $26,000, he said, and a permanent loss of his license.

“Instead of saying, let’s look at this like a human … they’re treating it like a money grab, like a chance to squeeze out yet another red zone person,” he said.

Hartung ultimately settled in court and paid approximately $24,000.

Bessey maintains that the city’s approach is deliberate and justified.

“The licensing code … is very clear. It states that operating an STR without a license is prohibited,” said Bessey. “The code is really clear, and it was written strictly at the time, at the council’s direction at that time for strict enforcement.”

“We do consider these businesses,” added Bessey, “and I think, as a business owner, people have a responsibility to understand the regulatory environments that they’re operating within.”

Caroline Fisher, who managed STRs for years, pointed to a stark contrast between the city’s current approach and previous years, when a practice of giving notice and a spirit of cooperation prevailed.

Fisher described how, under the old system, “for the whole seven years that I had my old permit, it was $75 to renew it every year and they would send me an email.”

When the new licensing system began, she received no notice.

“I assumed that when they switched to the new system, because they had me in their system, that I would get that, and I didn’t,” said Fisher.

Unlike Haggarty and Waters, as well as Hartung, Fisher realized on her own that she was in noncompliance and self-reported it to the city. 

Fisher ultimately paid a $21,200 fine, nearly double her mortgage for six months. 

“When she told me $21,000, I just … burst into tears right then and there,” said Fisher, who thought that self-reporting her noncompliance would grant her some understanding from the city. “This is my livelihood … and I felt like I had just been kicked in the gut. It was horrible.”

“This was the first time where I was like, this place does not care about us old-time locals,” said Fisher. “I have never, never been so devastated in my life. It was the biggest mess-up I’ve ever done in my entire life.”

Hartung, Fisher, and Haggarty and Waters all noted that the city continued to collect STR lodging taxes from their properties while those same properties were in noncompliance, leaving them wondering if the city was aware of their operations but failed to communicate compliance issues until significant fines had accrued.

City data reveals the scale and escalation of penalties imposed under the current enforcement regime. In 2023, the city collected $13,992 in fines from eight STR cases. That number soared to $209,100 from 12 cases in 2024. 

As of mid-2025, fines currently total $152,550 from 11 cases, with 11 additional cases pending and three more dispositions expected in the next week. 

Individual fines have ranged from $999 to over $45,000 per property, with several owners reporting plea offers in the $20,000-$30,000 range and threats of even higher penalties if cases go to trial.

Fisher noted that the prosecutor, staff attorney Kristi Doran, implied the fine could be much higher, saying Doran told her that “if you don’t take this deal, I’m going to go back and find every review and see how many times you rented it out.”

Haggarty was offered a plea deal of $53,000, down from the initial $260,000 fine, but was also told by Doran that, if she were to fight the citation, she could ultimately face a fine of over $500,000. 

Hartung, too, was told that the $26,000 was a settled amount, and that if he fought it, he could be fined for 40 violations — which, multiplied by $2,650, is $106,000. 

Council discusses revisiting current policy

Following Haggarty and Waters’ public comment, council members openly questioned whether the enforcement process was working as intended and called for a policy review.

“It seems like enforcement has really kicked into high gear, and that’s what our goals were,” said Councilor Dakotah McGinlay. “(STR operators) are learning a year-and-a-half later, so those fines are really racking up. Is there something that we can do about that? Is that going to just be the way that it is?”

“Our current policy … needs tweaking very badly … now that we’ve put it in place, there’s been a lot of challenges, miscommunication, lack of communication and absolutely zero grace and mercy from the city to the people that are citizens of this town and have been for many years,” said Councilor Michael Buccino. “Those are the things that I think we need to talk about.”

Councilor Bryan Swintek noted that only two people have brought complaints on STR noncompliance enforcement to public comment at council meetings, possibly showing the relative insignificance of the problem.

“The STR owners who have brought appeals to us, each of them does have a big problem,” said Councilor Joella West. “We didn’t create a code that was in itself a disaster, but it has had very serious effects on a small number of people.”

Council ultimately reached consensus to arrange a time for staff to return with recommendations on what’s working, what isn’t and what could be improved. Those recommendations have not yet been added to a future council meeting agenda.

With hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines already levied and more cases pending, the city’s enforcement process is now under the microscope — not just from affected residents, but from council itself, as Steamboat weighs how to balance regulation, fairness and community trust.