Athens considering several approaches to mitigate short-term rental issues

An Athens-Clarke County Commission committee is continuing to struggle with tweaking a recently passed amendment to the county’s zoning ordinance regulating short-term rental properties.

At its Monday meeting, the Government Operations Committee instructed county staff to look at a number of options, including an outright ban on new short-term rental properties, at least in residential areas.

Short-term rental properties (STRs), many of which routinely host large crowds during University of Georgia football games, graduations and popular community events like the AthFest music and arts festival, have become a pressing issue for residents of many single-family neighborhoods.

STRs, made available to the public through third-party online platforms like Vrbo and Airbnb , have spurred complaints of crowds, noise, parking and other persistent nuisances, particularly from residents of Five Points and other neighborhoods close to the UGA campus.

In February, the full commission approved a zoning ordinance amendment that, among other things, requires commercial STR operators to provide contact information for their properties’ managing agent or another responsible party to residents within 300 feet of the STR property.

Previous reporting: Lawsuit accuses Athens commissioners of illegal discussions ahead of short-term rental decision

The amended ordinance also requires commercial STR renters to be provided with information on parking limits at their chosen STR, and with notification of local noise ordinances.

The amended ordinance also addresses “home occupation” STRs, occupied by the homeowner and accommodating just a few guests. Those STRs can continue operating if they are covered by the required special-use and home occupation permits.

But outside of those and other provisions, the ordinance was assigned to the Government Operations Committee by Mayor Kelly Girtz for further tweaking after the commission struggled toward its February vote.

Primarily at issue is an ordinance provision establishing a two-year “sunset” for non-conforming STRs, properties that were legal when established, but have since fallen out of compliance with local regulation.

The sunset provision is designed to allow affected STR owners to recoup their investment in the short-term rental property. But some STR owners, including a group that is suing the county to have the ordinance overturned, have argued that two years is not enough to recoup their investment.

The Government Operations Committee has discussed including a “relief valve” provision in the ordinance, which would provide STR owners with a means of petitioning the county to operate beyond the two-year sunset provision.

But the relief valve proposal got little discussion at Monday’s committee meeting, beyond Commissioner Patrick Davenport, the committee chairman, suggesting that it be extended to five years.

“Some of the STRs (STR owners) that I spoke with agreed that it (a five-year sunset) would give them time to unload” their property, Davenport told the committee.

Two other committee members, however, used Monday’s session to suggest regulation of STRs beyond what is included in the amended zoning ordinance provisions now governing those properties.

Among the options for further regulation of STRs was a suggestion from Commissioner Mike Hamby that the county simply cap the number of STRs allowed in the community at the existing number. Hamby represents part of Five Points, where opposition to STRS is particularly strong.

“We just need to say, ‘This is all we’ll allow’,” Hamby told his committee colleagues.

John Hawkins, of the county attorney’s office, addressing Monday whether that might be a possibility, took a middle of the road approach. “It’s certainly something we could look at,” he said, noting that “the case law on this is developing … so we could do a little research to see if there’s anything out there that lends us some guidance one way or the other.”

For her part, Commissioner Melissa Link said Monday that she preferred working to limit occupancy of STRs, and using ordinances already on the books to regulate conduct of the people who stay in them.

“I’m into this idea of limiting the number of guests,” Link said Monday, arguing that many STR operations are predicated on getting as many people as possible into a rental property.

With occupancy regulation, Link contended, “some of these (STRs) might fade away, because their business model is based on packing them in.”

Link also suggested that limiting parking, requiring security cameras at STRs for review in the event of any local noise, occupancy or parking violation complaints might be a good idea.

Link was, however, cautioned on Monday by county government staff that using ordinances outside STR regulation could prove problematic, particularly regarding county enforcement personnel going onto private property.

As one example, Athens-Clarke County Planning Director Brad Griffin pointed out that to enforce an occupancy limit should a dozen or more people be found at an STR, the county would have “to be able to prove that all 12 of those people are going to be there in the morning (i.e., are staying in the residence) and (some of them) aren’t just over visiting because they’ve got friends in … from out of town and everybody’s meeting up at this house … .”

Backing up Griffin’s point, Athens-Clarke County Manager Blaine Williams pointed out that neighborhood residents, already upset with having STRs on their streets, might be further upset if the county put new regulations on the books, but couldn’t enforce them because of private property concerns.

“You could end up where the residents are even more frustrated because we’re not able to tell who it is (allegedly violating a local ordinance) and deliver those citations,” Williams said.

Hamby then told the committee, “That’s kind of why I’m saying let’s put a number down (a maximum allowable number of STRs), and say, ‘This is all we’re going to accept in this community’.”

In the end Monday, the committee opted to have the county’s legal, planning and management staff look into the suggestions offered at the committee meeting, and to continue the STR ordinance discussion at the next committee meeting, set for May 20.

“I don’t think we have to lose sight here of what we’re trying to achieve, and that’s just making sure that neighborhoods stay neighborhoods,” Hamby said

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Athens considering several approaches to mitigate short-term rental issues