A proposed ordinance to legalize home sharing in Lookout Mountain, Ga., was reviewed Thursday night by the city council. The proposal has the requirement that the homeowner must live on site and be present throughout the visitors’ stay. The stay can be no longer than seven days, and the maximum occupancy is three people per bedroom, or a total of six people in the house. No food or alcohol can be served. Other conditions include that the owner must get a business license and home-sharing permit and pay hotel/motel taxes to the city.
No signs are allowed and there must be adequate parking for no more than two vehicles.
The permitting process will require a review before the city council and the homeowner will have to sign an affidavit stating they will comply with all the rules and regulations. The council will recommend issuing no more than 15 permits. A “sunset clause” will apply so that the council must choose to renew the ordinance allowing the short term rentals beyond the first year. Additionally, the arrangement can be terminated by the council at any time. The ordinance will be written in a final form by City Attorney Bill Pickering.
Currently, the hotel/motel tax is three percent and the city can use that money wherever it is needed. The council on Thursday night agreed to raise that tax to five percent. The revenue is estimated to be $24,000 for next year. That additional two percent will be used for tourist-related activities, and can be spent to build trails, sidewalks and parks.
Mayor David Bennett also recommended raising the millage rate for fiscal year 2018 from the current amount of 9.050 to 9.35. This tax increase would generate an additional $16,000 for the city.
The mayor told the council that the Ironman 70.3, with over 3,000 participants, will be held in Chattanooga Sept. 9 and 10. The route will bring runners up Lookout Mountain on Ochs Highway to Red Riding Hood Trail. He said that a block party is being organized at the top of Red Riding Hood, and he is hoping for community support.
Mayor Bennett has been interviewing architects to design the new Town Center and is expecting to announce his choice at the August council meeting after which the plan will begin to move forward. He also told the council members that, according to the website Niche.com, Lookout Mountain, Ga. has been ranked the 16th safest city in the state of Georgia. More good news for the town is that the inventory of homes for sale is at an all-time low and prices are up. Additionally, there are five new houses under construction.
The sewer board will end the fiscal year 2017 just slightly in the black, board member Wes Hasden told the council. In 2018 several capital projects will be undertaken including replacing “wet well” walls that are crumbling. The debris from crumbling walls falls to the bottom and causes problems with the equipment. A couple of pumping stations will be added and a main line on Fleetwood Drive will be repaired to improve the flow of sewage down the mountain.
Councilwoman Taylor Watson informed the council about details of the car thefts and break-ins that took place in Georgia, late at night, several weeks ago. The vehicles that were taken had been left unlocked, some with keys and wallets inside. A week after two vehicles were stolen, two men came back up the mountain in one of the stolen cars. The pair was apprehended by the coordinated work of the Georgia and Tennessee police departments acting on a call from a neighbor who was alerted by her dog barking and then seeing a strange car parked in her driveway at 3 a.m.
Lookout Mountain, Ga. Police Officer Derrick Forrester and Lookout Mountain, Tn. Officer Don Massengale were given credit for apprehending the men involved. Officers Aaron Dean from Georgia and Officer Tanner Clark from Tennessee were the investigating officers of the case. Identification was made from images captured by the surveillance cameras that are positioned at each entrance into the towns of Lookout Mountain Tn. and Ga. Ms. Watson warned all residents to lock car doors and remove valuables. Cars that are left unlocked with keys inside may not be covered by insurance, she said.