Each change took a meeting, then two different public hearings, then a Board approval meeting. 

Most nearby cities are the same.Even in the Denver-adjacent cities that do allow non-owner occupied STRs, they vary widely -- some have caps on STRs, some cap the nights rentable as an STR, some cap the number of vacation rentals one owner can have, etc. etc.This is all to say, first know where you can do Airbnb, then start running numbers.

That way they keep their licenses and ratings.I don't see much of a difference really.Don't keep them out as they will get increasingly suspicious and they might pull your permit for non-compliance.

If you are open to non-traditional methods of financing, you could use a debt service loan to bypass that requirement.

And we will leave all non-IRS implications out of this, of course.Example 1.

Another example of this is Newark, extremely strict laws making land lording a second job.When finding the right area to invest, towns with more lenient land lording laws and proximity to public transportation tend to be a receipt for success.  

Out of curiosity would anyone be willing to share any experience with non-paying renters who've vacated the property prematurely?

I know property managers in every state who use non-refundable application fees and it is the standard for every class of property and applicant.

Having you live there, could put them in some legal trouble if it ever became public with what you are doing.

Most of the failures I’ve seen when investors attempt to “scale” a non scalable business result in only moderate losses and temporary setbacks.