Members of the Logan City Council will solicit public comment on vacation rental properties at their regularly scheduled meeting on March 1.
LOGAN – The members of the Logan City Council will entertain public comment about short-term rental properties in the city’s residential and commercial zones at their meeting on March 1.
That public hearing, slated for 5:45 p.m., will help members of the municipal council decide whether to endorse a recommendation of the city’s staff on neighborhood uses or that of the Logan Planning Comission.
Logan City has few regulations addressing short-term rental properties that are commonly referred to AirBNB’s or VRBO’s, according to Community Development Director Mike DeSimone.
“A short-term rental,” DeSimone explained, “is also often referred as a vacation rental. (Those properties) are transient rental accommodations, typically within a single family residential dwelling – but not always.
“They are rented out for a period of time not exceeding 30 days. This short-term occupancy is viewed and regulated differently than a traditional rental, where the term of rental is longer than 30 days.”
In a proposal to the Logan Planning Commission on Jan. 27, the city’s staff recommended that a conservative approach to regulating such vacation rentals by allowing them only in high density and commercial zone of the city.
Instead, the members of the planning commission recommended vacation rentals be allowed throughout the city because they said that negative impacts would be minimal because demand for the short-term rentals was not excessive here.
The March 1 public meeting on the subject is expected to help city council members gauge the reaction of the local residents to those alternative proposals.
The topic has already been discussed in online forums for the past month, where the issues of owner’s rights have been weighed against potential negative neighborhood impact.
“I think as long as parking, noise and other ordinances are still enforced, then (vacation rentals) should be allowed,” said Ashley Yates Nance. “I think a homeowner should be able to decide who stays in their home, and what level of risk they are comfortable with for their own property/insurance.”
Local resident Scout Miller shares that laissez-faire attitude toward properties listed by VRBO and AirBNB.
“They absolutely should be allowed,” Miller argued. “I am a firm supporter of individual property rights and the right of owners to use their property as they see fit, provided it does not endanger the safety or rights of neighboring properties.
“The ‘might harm’ or ‘don’t like’ is not sufficient cause to restrict the rights of a property owner.”
But other residents share the view of the city staff that vacation rentals should be restricted.
“I support allowing residents to offer their guest room up for a short-term rental,” Daniel Thurber said. “Whole-house vacation rentals? No.
“There is a big difference between the peer-to-peer rental model that AirBNB has started and dedicating a home to a vacation lodging for visitors. The former maintains neighborly spirit and provides a little income stream. The latter escalates housing scarcity for workers and residents of the community.”
In his Jan. 27 memorandum accompanying proposed Ordinance 22-04, DeSimone acknowledged that short-term rentals “…can have an adverse impact on neighborhood character as the residential nature of a neighborhood changes from long-term neighbors with a vested interest to their neighborhood to short term or transient guests …”
“There should be a limited amount of vacation rentals in each neighborhood,” Cole Checketts agreed. ”Like 10 percent and they should be taxed just like a hotel gets taxed.
“We need to save long-term rental as much as possible, because that’s what keeps a neighborhood stable … (Vacation rentals also) target cheaper neighborhoods, because I don’t see many of these being up on Cliffside or Hillcrest.”
Most residents of Logan who oppose short-term rentals entirely do so because they are concerned about the potential impact on local housing prices.
“I’m far from an expert,” Mike Johnson admitted. “But it’s my understanding the AirBNB and other short-term rentals typically cause an increase in housing prices and a decreasing in housing supply.”
DeSimone’s memo also revealed that short-term rentals “ … can negatively impact the availability and affordability of the housing stock by removing available residential units and driving up the cost of existing units …”
“Everyday, it looks more like we are turning into California when it comes to housing prices,” according to Facebook user Rachel Willis. “Only the rich can afford a house now …”
“With our current housing price situation, I definitely think that we should be considering every avenue to reducing house prices increases, including restricting short-term rentals like AirBNB,” Johnson concluded in his post.