The planning department has created four scenarios where vacation rentals would be increased in the old neighborhoods, EN1 and EN2. They took input last month from residents to better advise the council, and I felt that with only 45 people attending, neighborhood residents were not well-represented. There are many issues, but the most pressing one, I believe is the deterioration of our neighborhoods.

Already, there are construction shops near me, people doing massages out of their houses and so many rentals and ADUs (both legal and non-legal!) that I wonder if the city pays any attention to home owners who want to raise families and retire here. We are interested in the quality of our living areas, the neighbors, the stability, the friendliness.

What has happened to kids playing outdoors or borrowing a cup of sugar from a neighbor? With people in and out every weekend, this established environment declines. There are also issues of vacation rentals taking away needed long-term rentals from people who work here and are the backbone of our community. There are many hotels and motels that want to house tourists and are set up in the proper zones to do this. Enforcement of the many ordinances the city has allowed is notoriously lax.

Please send comments to www.durangogov.org/vacationrentals and attend the City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m., May 20 to voice your support for strong, residential, non-commercial neighborhoods.

Martha McClellan

Durango