A proposed ordinance made by City Council would regulate the use and availability of short-term rentals within the city.
The proposed ordinance would create regulation for short-term rentals, including making it so that only homeowners, not tenants and subtenants, could have short-term rentals. Short-term rental homes would also have to be located inside or within 250 feet of the owner’s primary residence, according to the ordinance.
It would also strengthen safety regulations and minimum floor space requirements and would make licenses required for homeowners wanting to make their homes available for short-term rental.
“That means there's no couchsurfing and no renting out your closet saying it's a bed,” Councilmember Chris Fahl, D-Fourth Ward, said. “Look at how many renters we have in the city. (Without regulation), it could be chaos, and we all know that a lot of those houses probably shouldn't have any other people in it because the slumlords haven't been doing a good job.”
The ordinance, introduced by Fahl during an October City Council meeting, would also allow for short-term rentals in the R1 and R2 zones of the city, which mostly consists of the neighborhoods north of Court Street, off Richland Avenue and off portions of East State Street.
If passed, it would apply the same transient guest tax to short-term rentals that is currently applied to hotels in the city.
Other regulations include a minimum square footage required for each guest, a transient guest tax, inspections, required liability insurance and a detailed guest list with names and contact information of all guests.
Paige Alost, director of the Athens County Visitors Bureau, said she thinks the ordinance is a good idea because it protects both renters and residents alike.
“We want everything to be safe when people come here, and we want them to have a great experience,” Alost said. “Yeah, we want them to have fun, but we also don't want them to have fun at a resident’s expense.”
There will be a public hearing about the proposed ordinance Tuesday at the Athens Community Center, Chris Knisely, president of City Council, said in an email.
