Fayetteville short-term rentals proposal needs more time for consideration, council committee agrees

The back of an accessory house rented out as an Airbnb is seen in July 2019, on East Oaks Manor Drive in Fayetteville. The City Council is considering a proposal to regulate short-term rentals. (File photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Gottschalk)
The back of an accessory house rented out as an Airbnb is seen in July 2019, on East Oaks Manor Drive in Fayetteville. The City Council is considering a proposal to regulate short-term rentals. (File photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Gottschalk)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Residents and hosts disagreed Thursday over several aspects of regulating short-term rentals in the city, but they and City Council members agreed on one thing: taking more time.

The council's Ordinance Review Committee met online on Zoom to go over proposed regulations city planners have been working on since July 2019. A draft of a proposal regulating short-term rentals was ready for the full City Council to consider in spring before the covid-19 pandemic sidelined a number of city issues.

The council took up the issue at its Dec. 1 meeting and pushed it until its Jan. 5 meeting. There, it was forwarded to the Ordinance Review Committee, consisting of four of the eight council members.

Operating a short-term rental, such as Airbnb or VRBO, is currently illegal in the city. Planners estimate about 500 of them exist in the city, and got to work with the intention of finding a mechanism to make them legal, but regulated.

Hosts would be required to get a business license with the city and a basic residential building inspection. People who already operate a short-term rental would have a six-month grace period after adoption of the ordinance to get a business license before being considered out of compliance.

The proposal also makes a distinction between Type I and Type II rentals. Type I is when the homeowner leases a room, or leaves the house and lets guests stay during their departure. Type II is an otherwise unoccupied home with only short-term guests.

Operators of Type II rentals who get a business license wouldn't be required to get a permit from the Planning Commission, but rather, would be considered to have one, said Mary McGetrick, the city's long-range planner. After the six months, however, they would need to go before the commission to get the permit, she said.

McGetrick introduced a number of changes to the original proposal, which the committee forwarded to the full council for consideration. Changes include capping the number of short-term rentals in a multifamily complex at 10%, rather than a two-unit maximum regardless of building size. Another change would limit owners of duplex, triplex and quadplex buildings to operate only one Type II rental unit within the building.

City staff recommended lifting an occupancy cap of eight people in a short-term rental. So, the cap would be two people per bedroom plus two with no limit.

City Attorney Kit Williams said that could go against the city's code for long-term rentals, which says no more than three unrelated people can live in a household.

Six people from the public made comments on the proposed regulations. Four were operators of short-term rentals or a representative, while two were residents who expressed issues with the rentals in general.

Carly Grace said she lives next to a short-term rental and has never made a formal complaint but experienced problems with large gatherings, noise, parked cars and litter. She said most people don't want to make complaints about their neighbors.

People operating a short-term rental illegally shouldn't get preferential treatment from the city when developing regulations, Grace said. She also worried anyone, including sex offenders, could stay at a short-term rental in a neighborhood with children.

"I haven't heard anyone speaking to that point, about how short-term rentals affect communities in that way," Grace said.

Logan Humphrey with the Arkansas Short-Term Rental Alliance suggested the grace period be extended to one year. He said the vast majority of hosts operate their rentals responsibly, with few complaints lodged with the city.

"I know there are some members of the community who want more than anything to just shut down short-term rentals," Humphrey said. "I just want to make sure there are legitimate complaints included, like it's been verified as a problematic issue."

Committee members agreed, after several commenters made the suggestion, that the proposal be held at the Jan. 19 council meeting for more consideration.

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Changing land uses

The Fayetteville City Council’s Ordinance Review Committee also separated into sections a proposal dealing with certain types of land uses within two zoning districts.

Within the community services zone, single-family and two-family dwellings, along with gas stations and drive-through restaurants, would become conditional uses, meaning a developer would have to get approval from the Planning Commission. Those types of uses are allowed by right under current code.

Single-family and two-family dwellings also would become conditional uses under the urban thoroughfare zone.

Property owners who have had a number of plans, developments and permits approved within six months of approval of the ordinance would be exempt.

Source: Fayetteville

Stacy Ryburn can be reached by email at sryburn@nwadg.com or on Twitter @stacyryburn.

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