New concerns with the Clark County short-term rental process
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Certified letters and emails were received by applicants this week who are in the process to try and obtain a short-term rental license, but concerns remain about the next steps.
The notification updated applicants about their status and to submit a complete application by June 21, which includes a new attestation statement along with other supporting documents.
The next step follows the pre-application process and a lottery held in March to determine the order which Clark County would consider the submissions. After two months, Clark County identified 137 applications ineligible and 1,169 as eligible. The county only considered a few reasons to disqualify applications during this phase including the property being located within 2,500 feet of a resort hotel, being in a jurisdiction other than unincorporated Clark County, being in an ineligible township and being located within a building that is a timeshare or vacation home.
The county did not consider the 1,000-foot buffer regulation.
“We know most everybody's not going to get approved,” Louis Koorndyk with the Greater Las Vegas Short Term Rental Association said,
The non-profit that advocates for short-term rental operators created a map to help homeowners see which homes were in the lottery and their number. It can help potential hosts know their odds of getting a license, which Koorndyk said is not high for many applicants.
“We show the 1000-foot separations,” Koorndyk said. “It knocks out two thirds, perhaps there might only be 400 or so applications that are actually going to be eligible.”
Clark County sent an update to News 3 via email regarding why the 1,000-foot buffer was not considered during this phase: “We have had instances in which the owner no longer wants to participate, and some homes have been sold, so it was impractical to determine the 1,000-foot buffer until after the full applications are submitted and reviewed.”
Applicants now need to submit a non-refundable $45 application fee. Incomplete applications, including failure to submit all required documentation, will be denied, according to the county. Those that fail would be taken out of contention which can change the map and status of some potential hosts.
“Even though I'm approved to apply, it still doesn't guarantee that I'm going to get the license,” Cliff Turnbull said. “So, it's very hard to plan anything."
Turnbull plans to complete the application to make the home he lives in now a short-term rental. While Clark County has given a submission date, potential STR hosts like Turnbull don’t know when the county plans to finish processing the finished applications and issue licenses.
“I think it's frustrating because nobody knows, you know, and the process goes on and then there's another step and you still don't know and by the time you're done, who knows when that's going to be,” Turnbull said.
Clark County approved a short-term rental ordinance in June 2022.
