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Monday, October 8, 2018

Short Term Rental Moratorium For Sweetwater Discussed


Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. October 3, 2018.  Frank Corgiat, president of the Bear Lake Water Company and Sweetwater Hillside HOA, and Terry Allen, Bear Lake Water Company, asked commissioners to put a temporary moratorium on short term rentals in the Sweetwater HOA.  This request came from the Golf Course HOA, the Trailer Park HOA, the Hillside HOA and the Bear Lake Water Company.

Allen said that the water usage since 2016 has shown a tremendous increase in usage. In 2016 the yearly use was 204 acre feet. In 2017 the use was 300 acre feet.  The only thing that has changed is the addition of short term rentals in both the Golf Course and Trailer Park. 

There are twenty new connections proposed for 2018 and most are for large short term rentals.  Allen said that the Water Company is in a mitigation process now, buying canal shares, but the short term rentals are growing so fast the water company cannot keep up. 

“We would like to slow things down till the mitigation is done and then we can work on a pending water right.”  Allen said.  “In the 1980’s we had a huge water right, then it was dropped, but the state said we can file for the 1600 acre feet underground water when the mitigation is done.”

“We are getting so far behind that the state will step in and take over.  We have 204 acre feet of water right now, we go over that allotment in the summer alone. Just one short term rental has fifty people in it.”
 
According to the water company data, 60% of the use goes to outside watering.  Each house and trailer is metered. When they read the meters at least 4 rental homes had used over 700,000 gallons the other houses used about 350,000 gallons and in the summer the pumps are working about 20 hours a day.  The CC&R’s do not allow outside lawns but there are people who ignore the rules.

Allen said. “We are changing the rates to make high water usage very expensive.” 

Commissioner Norm Weston asked if the commission granted the moratorium how long should it be in place.  Allen thought it would depend on when the water rights were granted.  Commissioner Bill Cox said that there needed to be a time limit. Corgiat suggested two years and then re-evaluating it.  He said that they have purchased canal shares and are filing with the state to transfer the shares into ground water shares for another 100 acre feet.  A new well is being drilled.   Corgiat argued that this affects fire suppression as well.

Currently there are 29 nightly rentals in the Golf Course HOA. They are not allowed in the Trailer Park HOA or Hillside HOA.  This year, 20 new building permits have been issued for large short term rental units.  They are not permitted as commercial buildings but are built ostensibly as private homes.  When finished, they then apply for licenses for them to be used as nightly rentals.

Corgiat suggested that the ones permitted at this time with existing business licenses be “grandfathered in”.  Weston said, “Better do the moratorium today or there will a rush on permits.” 
   
Chuck Stocking, Garden City Council, said that Garden City did a study to see if short term rentals use more water. They don’t.  It is the landscape watering that uses the most water; he suggested that Sweetwater should enforce the CC&R’s that prohibit lawns. 

Mayor Mike Leonhardt, Garden City, said the property managers are willing to work with the HOA.  The only difference is that people are making money on their property, the rest of cabin owners have just as many people with their family and friends. 

Stocking said that Garden City will have the same problem because “you can’t use more than you have rights for.  That is why we ask developers to bring water rights to the city when they request a new development.”

 Stocking said, “You could look at what the water usage was for the property before it became a short term rental for an idea on how much more water is really being used.”

Corgiat said that the HOA is going to enforce watering guidelines. There will be a meeting in November about outside watering.  “The last thing we want is for the state to come in and take this over.”  Allen asked Commissioners to put a time limit on a moratorium and then as the problems are solved it could be eliminated.

“The system is engineered for single family homes for water use and fire fighters.  We are pushing our pumps 20 hours a day.” Allen said.

Joey Stocking, Property Manager, asked if Allen had seen the copy of the study Tiffany Wahlberg did on water use.  He said that the data shows that short term rentals don’t use much water unless you count landscape water. 

Allen said that nothing has changed in the last two years other than the 29 new rentals, but there is a huge increase in water use.

Commissioner Norm Weston said they would table  this until the next meeting while the water company gets more data. The County will stop issuing short term rental licenses in Sweetwater for a month until the data is gathered.  

Commissioner Cox said that it is a problem because everyone’s access to water is compromised.

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