The St. Clair Board of Aldermen approved an ordinance last week regulating short-term rentals, which includes properties rented out through apps like Airbnb and Vrbo.
Introducing the topic at a public hearing at the board’s May 15 meeting, Building Inspector Craig Sullivan said city officials started looking at implementing a short-term rental ordinance after being approached by a real estate agent about it.
“He was inquiring if the city had a current short-term vacation rental program,” Sullivan said. “We did not have any type of ordinance on the books addressing that. So we developed this ordinance to get that on the books in the event that somebody would like to take a residence and rent it out short term, vacation rental type issues.”
No members of the public asked any questions or had any comments on the ordinance during the public hearing.
“It is restrictive,” Sullivan said of the ordinance. Short-term rentals “will only be allowed within the residential zoning districts in the city,” he added.
Other requirements for short-term rentals include that their owners must obtain a business license and pass an annual city inspection, with a $100 fee for the inspection, and that the total allowable occupancy for short-term rentals will be two people per bedroom.
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