Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

OGDEN — Weber County leaders have hired a firm to help enforce rules governing short-term rentals in the Ogden Valley, sometimes a nuisance to full-time residents in the area.

But county commissioners held off on a broader proposed update to the ordinances governing such rentals, used by short-term visitors to the ski resorts and other draws of the area. They want to take a closer look at whether short-term rental operators outside the zone prescribed for such properties in the proposed update ought to be grandfathered in and allowed to keep operating.

Either way, the officials characterized the hiring of Granicus as a big step forward in dealing with the noise, loud parties, traffic and other issues associated with some short-term rentals. According to the contract with the firm, the county will pay the St. Paul, Minnesota, firm $28,212.30 a year to handle complaints from the public about short-term rentals, a tough task for the county given limited code enforcement staffing.

“To me, it’s about enforcement. This is a step in the right direction,” said Commissioner Gage Froerer, who said he hopes Granicus can start operating in early 2023. Problems associated with short-term rentals have been a topic of discussion among county officials since 2020.

County Commissioner Jim Harvey noted that the short-term rental industry is fairly new, something the county government apparatus isn’t necessarily equipped to address, at least in its current form.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

“This is a whole new market. The rental house market is big today and wasn’t 40, 50 years ago,” Harvey said. “This is a whole new thing that has evolved.”

Those who operate short-term rentals properly, keeping activities at their units from getting out of hand, shouldn’t have problems.

“However, if you’re a bad actor, it’ll cost you a lot of money,” Harvey said, referencing the fines associated with violating noise and other nuisance ordinances. The hope, he indicated, is that fines from short-term rental scofflaws identified by Granicus cover the cost of enforcement.

Granicus will also be tasked with identifying short-term rental operators in the Ogden Valley who haven’t property registered with the county. As is, the estimates of the numbers of short-term rentals vary widely, though county estimates put the figure at 700-plus.

A big concern for some Ogden Valley residents amid the debate on the issue has been that county officials will broaden the area that short-term rentals are allowed, potentially exacerbating problems with such properties. The proposed update, however, doesn’t allow for an expansion.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

“Let’s get enforcement right and shuttle the discussion of expansion,” said Kay Hoogland, an Ogden Valley resident who’s closely followed the issue. “There’s a place for short-term rentals and it’s not throughout our area.”

Ogden Valley resident Jan Fullmer, who has also followed the issue closely, called the proposed ordinance changes “a first step” to get a handle on short-term rental operators.

However, when the time came to approve the ordinance update, officials held off on action, apparently worried about the upshot to responsible short-term operators outside the prescribed short-term rental zone.

“I want to take steps, but I don’t want to take away property rights from people,” Harvey said. “I hate to see unintended consequences.”

Ultimately, officials tabled action on the ordinance but tentatively plan to take the issue back up at the county commission’s Jan. 10 meeting.

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