Model Ordinance on Short-Term Rentals
| Model Bill Info | |
|---|---|
| Bill Title | Model Ordinance on Short-Term Rentals |
| Date Introduced | November 29, 2023 |
| Type | Model Ordinance |
| Status | Draft |
| Task Forces | American City County Exchange; Communications and Technology |
| Keywords | Local Issues |
Model Ordinance on Short-Term Rentals
Definitions:
Short-term rental: renting up to two (2) bedrooms in a home/apartment/dwelling or an entire home/apartment/dwelling for less than 30 days.
The max of two (2) bedrooms is used to avoid overlap with regulations on boardinghouses, rooming houses, and other situations in the building codes. Does not include hotels, motels, inns, bed-and-breakfasts, or boarding homes. Short-term rentals include what many people refer to as “AirBnB’s”, but it includes rentals listed on many other platforms besides AirBnB, and not all rentals posted on AirBnB are considered short-term (which is less than 30 days). Hosted short-term rental: where the owner, or operator, residing either in the same building as the unit being rented, or on the same property if renting an accessory dwelling unit (ADU).
Non-hosted short-term rental: where neither the owner, nor the operator, resides in the same building (or property if renting an ADU); this is regardless of whether or not property management services are provided for the rental unit.
All short-term rentals, whether hosted or non-hosted, would be allowed in all residential zones and commercial zones where residential is allowed.
Non-hosted rentals are capped at 1% of the dwelling units in the City, which will be determined yearly based on assessing data.
In multi-family buildings, all short-term rentals, whether hosted or nonhosted, will be capped at 50% of the units in a building (would not apply to units that are under different ownership (i.e. condominiums); only applies to units that are all under the same ownership).
Any person or entity is limited to 5 short-term rental units.
All short-term rentals, whether hosted or non-hosted, are required to obtain a license and subject to an inspection to ensure the unit meets fire and life safety requirements.
Licenses will require annual renewal and an inspection every 3 years in order to renew the license (an inspection would also be required prior to first obtaining the license). The fee for new licenses and renewal licenses that require inspection is [AMOUNT]. The fee for renewal licenses that do not require inspection is [AMOUNT]. If the rental unit fails inspection, the license holder will be notified of the deficiencies and may be allowed re-inspection to ensure that the items of concern have been addressed prior to receiving a new or renewed license. An additional license fee of [AMOUNT] is required for each additional inspection. To be considered a hosted rental, the property must be considered the primary residence of the owner/operator. Allowances are made for those in the armed forces on active duty. To acquire the license for the short-term rental, documentation is required from the owner/operator demonstrating that the property is their primary residence. The language will not become effective until six months after the passage of the ordinance in order to notify current operators of short-term rentals in the City and allow time for them to become compliant with the Code.
