{"id":123635,"date":"2026-04-03T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/second-homes-prove-tricky-issue-for-durango-officials\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:00:00","slug":"second-homes-prove-tricky-issue-for-durango-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/second-homes-prove-tricky-issue-for-durango-officials\/","title":{"rendered":"Second homes prove tricky issue for Durango officials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The city of Durango has a 12% vacancy rate in the number of homes that are owned and occupied by primary residents, according to the city of Durango\u2019s Prosperity Office. The vacancies are attributed to people who live in Durango seasonally, who own second homes in Durango and short-term vacation rentals. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The city of Durango has a high number of \u201cvacant\u201d or second homes compared to most communities \u2012 but compared to mountain resort towns, the vacancy rate is notably low.<\/p>\n

Local government officials say they feel optimistic about Durango\u2019s vacancy rates, although they acknowledge access to affordable housing remains a challenge.<\/p>\n

Councilor Kip Koso said he\u2019s disappointed a recent bill that would have allowed municipalities to implement vacancy taxes on second homes failed in the state Legislature.<\/p>\n

The Colorado House Finance Committee rejected the Empty Home Tax bill<\/a> on Feb. 9, according to Colorado Newsline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was rooting for the vacancy tax to make it out of committee at the state level,\u201d Koso told The Durango Herald<\/em> in February. \u201cIt\u2019s got so many, multiple applications, right? It\u2019s a disincentive for people to leave their vacation homes empty when we need workforce housing. It discourages second homeownership and vacant residences. I liked that it could be tailored for each individual community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durango Prosperity Officer Mike French said earlier this year an estimated 88% of 9,464 households within the city of Durango are occupied full-time \u2012 leaving about 12% of households vacant.<\/p>\n

He said the 12% vacancy rate<\/a> was attributed to people who live in Durango seasonally, who own second homes in Durango and short-term vacation rentals.<\/p>\n

There were about 135 managed and regulated short-term rentals in Durango as of early 2026, according to the city.<\/p>\n

Koso said in an interview with the Herald <\/em>the most striking part of available data is the city sits at about 55% home ownership.<\/p>\n

\u201cHomeownership is really important in regards to generating that quality of life within the city, and not just becoming some kind of bedroom-type community for second homeowners and folks who are just trying to make a buck from the rental market,\u201d he said. \u201cPaying attention to vacancies, paying attention to the vacant properties, I think, is going to be something we need to be doing \u2012 because that housing has already been built. It\u2019s already existing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said it\u2019s easier to get residents to use existing housing than it is to build new homes.<\/p>\n

Councilor Dave Woodruff said he suspects most second-home owners in Durango are not families but individuals, and he is focused on making Durango a place for families \u2013 people who want to connect with the community and contribute to long-term sustainable growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cComparison is the thief of joy when you\u2019re just comparing yourself to what other people\u2019s accomplishments are,\u201d he said, in reference to other mountain resort community\u2019s second home or vacant home stats.<\/p>\n

He said if a 12% vacancy rate works for Durango, then that\u2019s acceptable as long as the city continues to make affordable housing more accessible.<\/p>\n

Woodruff said strengthening the city\u2019s Fair Share inclusionary zoning program is one step toward solving the housing crisis.<\/p>\n

Councilor Shirley Gonzales said a program that incentivizes renting out second homes would address the city\u2019s housing needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some situations where it might be beneficial to allow people to rent their property out, especially if it\u2019s for a longer term,\u201d she said. \u201cI think we can. I think you can rent it out for six months at a time, but can you do three months at a time?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonzales said such a program would allow the city to collect fees but also allow homeowners to earn additional income while not disrupting the prices of homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not buying property to turn it over, but if it\u2019s owner-occupied and you leave your home for six months to get out of the winter, then could we benefit from a program like that?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

City\u2019s 12% vacancy rate lower than mountain resort towns, but housing concerns persist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":123636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[459,1020,453],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-123635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-construction-and-property","tag-durango-city-council","tag-housing-and-urban-planning"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123635"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=123635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}