The city of Little Rock on Monday evening held a forum for members of the public to share feedback and ask questions with regard to a proposed local ordinance that would establish new regulations for short-term rental properties listed on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.
The draft ordinance is scheduled to receive a first reading this evening at the city board's regular meeting.
The proposal would treat short-term rentals and bed and breakfasts the same. At the moment, bed and breakfasts -- i.e., an owner-occupied single-family residence serving overnight guests for up to 14 consecutive days -- are defined in city code, whereas short-term rentals are not.
The proposed ordinance would define both as "an owner occupied or non-owner occupied single-family, or multi-family property which contains not more than five (5) guest rooms, no more than one (1) of which may be located in an approved accessory dwelling, which for a fee may be occupied by a guest for no longer than twenty-nine (29) consecutive days."
Currently, the city deals with owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied short-term rental properties via the special use permit and planned zoning district processes, respectively.
Annual inspection fees of $100 per bedroom, up to $500, would be assessed on owner-occupied rentals; properties where the owner does not reside on-site or within 1,500 feet would be assessed a $500 inspection fee for the whole structure. (Structures found to be contributing to a district's historic status would be exempt from the annual fee.)
Under the proposed ordinance, operators of short-term rental properties would have to secure a special use permit from the city's Planning Commission. They subsequently would have to get a business license subject to annual renewal.
The forum, held on the campus of Philander Smith College, was led by Jamie Collins, the director of the Little Rock Planning and Development Department. Also stationed at the front of the room were Urban Designer Hannah Ratzlaff as well as City Directors Joan Adcock, Andrea Lewis, Antwan Phillips and Brenda "B.J." Wyrick.
Paul Dodds, a local rehabilitator of historic properties who identified himself as a "Superhost" on the Airbnb platform, referring to the company's term for experienced and well-regarded hosts, listed 10 points having to do with the proposed ordinance. They included an absence of local data supporting the need for regulations or analyzing their possible impact.
He also predicted that implementation likely would fail. "Projected revenues and needed staffing levels are in a black box," Dodds said during the forum. "We need realistic transition periods with flexibility when regulators fall behind."
A married couple who are short-term rental operators, Bobby and Angela Mathews, each addressed city officials, with Bobby Mathews arguing that the biggest issue for the city to tackle in terms of Airbnb was "negligent homeowners." He described them as people living outside of the state and doing things without the neighborhood knowing. He asked that more certainty be built into the process, especially for people who invest in properties.
If officials were to incorporate hosts into the process, "you would get something that's actually tailored to what you're trying to accomplish," Angela Mathews said, "because as it's currently drafted, it's just not going to do what we want it to do. You're just making it hard for everyone who's hosting, and you're creating something that's hard for the city to enforce."
"We are not against short-term rentals," said Pam Powell, president of the University Park Neighborhood Association. "We just firmly believe that the ones that do not have an owner present should not be allowed in areas zoned residential."