City Councilman Chip Henderson is proposing amendments to the current ordinance on Short Term Vacation Rentals (STVR), including a density cap, buffer zone from R-1, a seven-member appeals board, and an administrative hearing officer (AHO).
He said the amendments would be an addition to the current STVR ordinance and would continue its "overlay zones" that bar rentals from certain districts.
The council is also planning to extend the moratorium on new non-owner occupied rentals. The current moratorium runs out on Jan. 9. In order to get a new moratorium in place, the council plans to take up the issue next Tuesday. Otherwise, they said there might be a flood of new non-owner occupied applications to deal with. Council members said most of the STVR issues have been with the non-owner occupied - not with those operators who live at the rental.
Councilman Henderson, who is leading an ad hoc STVR committee, said several City Council members remain opposed to having any rentals in their district.
The Kelly administration and the Planning Agency had recommended doing away with the overlay zones, saying that is not the way it is done elsewhere.
Councilwoman Carol Berz said if the city can show it will enforce the rules for the STVR industry, then more council members may be willing to do away with the overlay zones.
The AHO would be able to assess fines of as much as $500 per day to illegal operators. Council members said that income could go toward hiring three or more additional STVR enforcement staff members. Currently there is only one.
Councilman Henderson said he came up with the amendments because "we really haven't come up with a good solution" on a replacement ordinance.
He recommended a 30-day moratorium, though some council members and the administration favored six months. The council will have both options on Dec. 13.
Councilman Henderson said he favored an increase in the application fee, and perhaps also the annual renewal fee, for non-owner occupied.
Councilwoman Jenny Hill said more time may be needed to study the Henderson amendments. She said they "have not been fully vetted. There's a lot to be thought through here."