After about a year of working on legislation the Santa Fe County Commission has voted to place new restrictions on short-term rental properties.
In a 4-1 vote Tuesday night the commission voted to limit the number of non-owner occupied dwellings in several communities in the county setting the limits at either three or seven-percent of available housings depending on the location.
It also limited ownership to two dwellings of non-owner occupied locations.
County Commissioner Anna Hansen says future changes can be made to the ordinance if they are needed.
“I am sure that we are going to see this ordinance again at some point and it will be interesting as we collect the data of how this has affected it,” she said. “I think that we have tried to listen to our constituents and we are also trying to make sure that we have housing stock available for people to live in.”
Commissioner Justin Greene was the only no vote on the ordinance.
He opposed the two non-owner-occupied maximum homes regulation, saying it could be a problem for families in the future.
While one person brought up the same concern during a public hearing ahead of the vote, many county residents asked that the short-term rentals be banned altogether saying they were a detriment to neighborhoods and property values.
Also during the meeting commissioners elected Hank Hughes to become the new chair of the current year.