Commissioners to weigh how hard to chase illegal nightly rentals in the county

Teton County commissioners take up short-term rental regulations Monday, Oct. 5, as an action item on their agenda. Planning Director Chris Neubecker's staff report suggests no motion. Staff instead ask the board for direction on "the desired level of future enforcement." Under the Land Development Regulations, any rental under 31 days is a lodging use. Lodging is barred in every county base zone and allowed only in pre-1994 approved developments, Planned Resorts and some Planned Unit Developments. Guesthouses, caretaker's quarters and employee apartments are held to a 90-day minimum rental. The county has no permit or registry for short-term rentals. Two code compliance officers act only on complaints, and the code has been read loosely: renting to one guest "one time every 31 days has been interpreted as compliant." Since 2020 the county has opened 39 cases. Most came from Alta (14), Wilson (7), North Spring Gulch (6) and Moran (4), and 2026 is on track for a record. Paying a third party to match online listings to addresses could add $11,000 to $90,000 a year to the department's costs. Staff have done no community outreach yet.

The report's own timeline lists no county short-term rental amendments from 2023 through 2026. The 2020 Comprehensive Plan calls for "active" enforcement, and that strategy is not marked complete. The search turned up no earlier commissioner action on this review. The same plan says the reason for the limit is to keep tourist uses out of the Rural Areas, and most of the complaints have come from those outlying places, not the resort condos.