COMMUNITY

Nightly rental numbers jump in Ruidoso

Software sought to allow real-time checking of a property's status when complaint received

Dianne L Stallings
Ruidoso News
  • Real estate representatives have been good partners, village official says

Since Ruidoso village councilors streamlined the ordinance governing nightly rentals in the resort community, the number of short-term rental properties registered jumped from 644 in the summer of 2016 to more than 1,000 this month, Community Development Director Bradford Dyjak said.

Ruidoso Community Development Director Bradford Dyjak reports on implementation of the new short-term rental procedures.

The multiple aims of the revamped ordinance were to capture nightly rentals not being reported, to increase lodgers tax revenues generated by the business, to monitor and reduce complaints about the rentals and to simplify the registration process, he told village councilors at their meeting last week.

Mayor Tom Battin pointed out that many people buy or build a home in the village with the hope of offsetting some of the mortgage expense by doing nightly, weekend or weekly rentals. But when complaints about noise and excessive parked cars mount up from neighbors, punitive action must occur. 

Dyjak reminded councilors that when they adopted the revised ordinance in May, they asked for a follow-up on implementation. Staff and councilors had determined that a number of issues needed to be addressed within the short-term rental permitting process.

Four components were established. The first was to update the ordinance; the second dealt with administrative and software upgrades; the third centered on education and outreach; and the fourth on monitoring and compliance.

The last ordinance revision occurred in 2009, he said, and contained permit options for one to three years, which caused confusion, required new short-term rentals to notify adjacent neighbors; and included a requirement for a fire inspection by the local fire department, which created a backlof in processing.

The increase in registered properties shows that the village is obtaining a better rate of compliance and staff will continue to “chip away at that,” he said, because it helps pump up gross receipts taxes and lodgers’ taxes.

After a review by the village lodgers tax committee, a list of 100 to 130 noncompliant properties was compiled, Dyjak said.

“So another issue we had to address was compliance with registration,” and how to prevent nuisances and complaints, he said.

“Since the ordinance was adopted, we’ve eliminated duplication of effort and significantly turned around the time for permit issuance,” Dyjak said. “We turn a permit into the property owner’s hands in a matter of days as opposed to weeks or months. We increased efficiency and streamlined that process and we increased the compliance process with enhanced monitoring and tracking (of complaints).”

Staff also is working to configure existing software as they build up the data base, he said.

“Right now, we’re transitioning from antiquated to a georeferenced data base, which we will tie into new software and use (Geographical Information Services) resources more effectively to find out if a property is compliant and the number of complaints registered, Dyjak said. “A lot of credit to Lori Carpenter, the village GIS coordinator, and Robbie Davis working on this enhancement.”

Some of the other changes that resulted from the new ordinance were self-inspection for fire safety and  moving from a choice of one to three years permits to three years only, which should be more effective for tracking and renewing permits, he said. The data will link in with lodgers tax on noncompliance and penalties.

Dyjak said he’s worked well with Realtors about informing their clients to ensure visitors are safe. They have been good partners, he said.

“It was important that the Realtors buy in and include the information as part of their packets,” he said.

This month he expects to receive price quotes for new a software system that would allow the department to monitor and track in real time properties being advertised on line, Dyjak said.  “It will scan the Internet and cross reference against existing registration, and will generate compliance letters, as well,” he said.

He thanked members of the village lodgers tax committee for finding innovative strategies and allotting money that allowed the department to move forward on the software. Lodgers tax is to be paid to the village by every hotel, motel, lodge, cabin, recreation vehicle park or private home rented for short-periods within Ruidoso borders.

Police Chief Darren Hooker said he looked at a snapshot of calls to his department on July 1, seeking items such as noise disturbances, loud music and partying. He counted 67 calls, ranging from an officer just driving by to check an address to issuing citations. In this review, no citations were issued, he said. Some of the calls may have been outdoor music at a restaurant.

“The system doesn’t have a way to correlate if an officer goes out to the same address numerous times,” he said. He hopes to be able to coordinate with Dyjak to accomplish that goal.

He noted that the situation with a property on Timberline that previously generated multiple complaints has improved. The property owners installed a noise meter inside the house and whenever the meter hits a certain level, the owners receive an automatic phone call, Hooker said, adding, “And they can call and calm them down. We haven’t had any more calls up there.”

By putting each nightly rental house on the GIS maps and tying the information into the new software, the chief could pull up in real time those properties causing problems, who owns them, who manages them and the number of complaints, Dyjak said.

Battin said short-term rentals are important to the community. Councilor Lynn Crawford said missing out on some of those homes means thousands of lost dollars in new revenue.