Economic & Planning Systems (EPS) consultants Andrew Knudson and Carlin Russell gave the board an STR baseline ahead of a planned impact study and community outreach.

"As of early November, there were 73 active short term rentals in Pitkin County," Knudson said, and he noted concentrations in the Aspen Community Plan area and along Highway 82. EPS27 pricing queries across platforms found a broad range: about half the inventory sampled listed under roughly $2,000 per night for peak-week examples, with a lower proportion clustered in the $2,000–$7,000 range and a distinct luxury segment; EPS said some luxury listings appeared above $10,000 per night and that luxury-specialist platforms showed similar distributions.

EPS reported county STRs average roughly 30% occupancy (2018202013 through 2023 baseline presented), which the consultants characterized as comparatively low utilization relative to larger resort counties. EPS outlined policy levers to address impacts: different license categories (local vs. nonlocal), geographic caps or neighborhood overlays, limits on nights and guest counts, license conditions to address noise/trash/parking, and fee approaches tied to mitigation (administrative licensing fees, regulatory fees and, where municipalities allow, excise taxes).

Commissioners raised three consistent themes: whether the five-year rental-history requirement (201720to 2022) should be retained or opened with a cap on total licenses; whether caps should target specific high-intensity neighborhoods; and how to quantify any STR-linked effects on labor demand and housing. Staff said focus groups and broker outreach will continue in early December and that the study team will return with mitigation scenarios and more disaggregated data (owner type, resident versus nonresident ownership, special-events use and service/concierge intensity).

Commissioners asked staff to explore options including opening eligibility for local residents who lack the historical rental record but pairing any change with an overall cap and clear owner-occupancy or tenure criteria. EPS will probe how many new applications the board might expect and will test policy scenarios against housing-impact metrics and license-cap models.

The board did not take a final policy vote; commissioners directed staff and EPS to continue outreach and to present mitigation scenarios in the final impact study due this winter.