DWIGHT H. MERRIAM, FAICP ROBINSON & COLE LLP

Transcription

1 Planning and Regulating Short Term Residential Rentals in Small Towns and Rural Areas DWIGHT H. MERRIAM, FAICP ROBINSON & COLE LLP 1

2 Part of the Trend of Sharing Transportation Network Companies Cars Zipcar Enterprise Turo Ridesharing Uber Lyft 2

3 Service Peer-to-Peer or Collaborative Consumption TaskRabbit Skillshare Goods Listia Space Airbnb HomeAway 3

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8 Airbnb Founded 2008, San Francisco Two roommates with air mattresses 600,000+ hosts 3,000,000+ listings 150,000,000+ guests 191+ countries 65,000+ cities 8

9 Airbnb 6-12% commission above rental 3% listing fee Profits of $3.5 Billion by 2020 Capitalized value of $30 billion 9

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13 Do you have any short term rentals listed in your small towns and rural areas? 13

14 Centennial, CO 14

15 Fairbanks, AL 15

16 Provincetown, MA 16

17 Weston, CT 17

18 Collegedale, TN 18

19 Charlottesville, VA 19

20 Tivoli, NY 20

21 Leavenworth, KA 21

22 Jeffersonville, IN 22

23 St. John the Baptist Parish, LA 23

24 Ann Arbor, MI 24

25 Charles Town, WV 25

26 Martin County, FL 26

27 Pendleton, OR 27

28 Duluth, MN 28

29 Lenox, MA 29

30 Grand Island, NE 30

31 Morton County, ND [Breien] 31

32 Helena, MT 32

33 Taft, CA 33

34 Columbus, OH 34

35 Detroit, MI 35

36 Clayton, MO 36

37 Kingsport, TN 37

38 Grand Junction, CO 38

39 Jackson Heights, NY 39

40 Hutchinson, MN 40

41 Benbrook, TX 41

42 Ashburn, VA 42

43 Stakeholders Hotel owners Unions Municipalities Landlords Co-operative and condominium owners Hosts 43

44 Short-Term Rental (STR) We define a short-term rental (STR) as a residential property that is rented to a visitor for less than 30 days. -Short Term Rental Advocacy Center 44

45 Questions You Might Ask Are they hotels? What if they are rented for longer periods? How are they used? Vacations Business Temporary lodging during renovations Visiting patients Family gatherings Does it matter how they are used? 45

46 What Are You Trying to Achieve with Regulation? Preservation of single-family values? Avoidance of commercialization? Better property stewardship? Protecting appearance? Too many cars? Too much activity? Noise? Trash? 46

47 Benefits and Burdens Will additional income result in better maintenance? Can aging in place may be facilitated? Is it possible that people forced out by economics may be able to stay? Can you meet housing needs for certain demographics? Young person returning to town Divorced man Abused wife Foreclosed property owner 47

48 Benefits and Burdens Will regulation create willful violators? Could it reduce housing supply and affordability? Will failure to regulate endanger people? What will be the impact on taxes? Do owners need counseling on insurance and mortgage covenants? What about existing covenants and easements? Is it zoning? How do you enforce? 48

49 Is It Economic Development? PROMOTION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE VISITORS INDUSTRY WHEREAS, communities throughout the United States rely on local hotel taxes to promote travel and tourism and support the local visitors industry; and WHEREAS, local hotel taxes often fund convention and visitors bureaus, convention centers, sports arenas and sports teams; and WHEREAS, local hotel taxes often support local cultural programs including music, film, gaming, visual arts, dance and more; and WHEREAS, short-term rental of homes can often be subject to hotel taxes; and 49

50 WHEREAS, short-term rental of homes can provide a flexible housing stock that allows family travelers spending longer periods of time in a community a safe accommodation while contributing to the local economy; and WHEREAS, short-term rental of homes can provide homeowners an opportunity to hold property as an investment, for a better sales market, or for future planning; and WHEREAS, fair regulation of short-term rentals ensures greater compliance and greater receipt of local hotel taxes; and WHEREAS, regulations of short-term rentals that establish a reliable way for a municipality to identify and contact the short-term rental owner, make the tax collection and remittance obligation clear and treat the short-term rental owner the same as long-term rental owners can achieve the highest level of compliance; and WHEREAS, onerous regulations of short-term rentals can drive the industry underground, thus evading local regulations and local hotel taxes; 50

51 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors urges support for economic development opportunities through the visitors industry by encouraging regulations of the short-term rental industry that (1) establish a reliable way for the municipality to identify and contact the short-term rental owner; (2) make the tax collection and remittance obligations clear to the short-term rental owner; and (3) treat short-term rental tenants the same as long-term rental tenants. Regulations that accomplish all three can achieve a high level of compliance, and are highly effective. RESOLUTION ADOPTED JUNE

52 Planning What is the need? What do you have now? What is the market? In what zones? How many where? Austin, Texas by census tract In what structures? New? Old? 52

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54 How Do You Permit? As of right? Site plan? Discretionary, site-specific approval, e.g. special permit? In an overlay zone? With a floating zone? Forever or for a term? 54

55 What s in the Regulations? Definition Process Fees Submission requirements Reviews Fire Police Health 55

56 Prohibition on commercial activity Parking Duration Owner present or not Compensation or not Number of guests Notification of neighbors Safety inspections Licenses, fees, taxes 56

57 Questions and, we hope, some answers