The Denver City Council moved one step closer to legalizing and regulating short-term vacation rentals Wednesday with a committee’s 5-1 approval of zoning and licensing proposals.

But when the council introduces the controversial measures on the floor May 16, its members could debate big potential changes. As written by Councilwoman Mary Beth Susman, the goal is to restrict rentals of less than 30 days only to primary residences or separate dwelling units on the same property.

Vacation rentals aren’t legal now, despite growth in recent years to roughly 2,000 Denver listings on websites such as Airbnb and VRBO.

With Susman’s proposals as the baseline, some council members favor more restrictions. Kevin Flynn,who represents mostly suburban southwest Denver, says he intends to offer a competing proposal that would leave it to entire blocks or neighborhoods to decide to opt in before any vacation rentals would be allowed.

Others want to give residents more leeway. Robin Kniech, Stacie Gilmore and Paul Lopez were among members who said Wednesday that they support or are at least are open to Councilman Wayne New’s suggestion to allow a household to rent out its primary residence or a second home, but not both.

He is offering that in response to vocal protests against Susman’s primary-residence rule from many residents who use second homes to generate extra cash.

“I will say this is a case where the process changed some of my thinking along the way,” Kniech said, giving a nod to some in the audience Wednesday.

New could offer an amendment on the floor next month or, as Flynn also intends to do, draft a stand-alone proposal that the council would consider alongside Susman’s measure. There still is some disagreement about whether any permission to rent out a second home in the city should apply only to Denver residents, as New favors.

Rafael Espinoza cast the sole vote against advancing Susman’s proposal without changes, for now. He said he’d want a neighborhood opt-out provision, and he also expressed concern about the need for more safeguards to keep tenants from applying for a short-term rental license without their landlords’ permission.

After two years of community meetings and input sessions convened by Susman, the council is nearing a likely public hearing and final vote June 13. The proposed licensing ordinance would require those who list a property to include the license number and to collect lodging taxes from renters.

A proposed zoning amendment would allow short-term rentals as a valid accessory use in residential districts. Any changes by the council would require notification of neighborhood groups since the zoning measure already cleared the Planning Board 7-2.

Margie Valdez, co-chair of Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation’s zoning and planning committee, reiterated to the committee that the primary residence-only rule remains key to INC’s support.

Some people who testified Wednesday expressed support for Susman’s proposal, while several repeated requests to allow vacation rentals in secondary residences. They said vacation rentals were good for the city’s economy and offered visitors more alternatives for lodging.

But Denver District Judge Gaspar Perricone, who lives in a downtown high-rise, expressed concern about reduced security if streams of visitors were to begin rotating through some units in his building. Susman pointed out after he spoke that homeowners associations still would be able to bar short-term rentals.

Denver activist Thad Tecza called on council members to put the short-term rental proposals on the ballot, suggesting that “a clear majority of your constituents oppose this change.”

Jon Murray: 303-954-1405, jmurray@denverpost.com or @JonMurray