Rent control

Fayetteville examines short-term rental practices

More and more, the gap between the real world and the Internet-based economy is narrowing.

Remember back in the day when online purchases rarely included sales taxes? It made for cheaper purchases, but it also robbed local and state governments of revenue they need to deliver important government services. Eventually, the real world has caught up with the Internet world and those taxes are collected.

Local governments, however, are still trying to figure out ways to appropriately interact with the Internet economy. Cities wrestle with how to regulate and tax on-demand driving services such as Uber and Lyft, in which drivers empowered by a Internet-based phone app use their personal vehicles to pickup and deliver passengers for a fee.

Those challenges in recent years have also extended to short-term rentals through online services such as Airbnb, VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owners) and HomeAway.

This week, hotels and motels in the region are undoubtedly filled with motorcycle enthusiasts, but across Fayetteville there are also a considerable number of private homes, condos and the like being rented out for the duration of the annual Bikes, Blues & BBQ motorcycle rally. On Friday, one could still find offerings of lodging going for as high as $1,097 a night (right on Dickson Street), many others for several hundred dollars a night or single rooms for double-digit pricing.

The tricky thing is, if one takes a look at the Fayetteville City Code, these places aren’t supposed to exist. The city code does not anticipate people renting out their homes for one or two days at a time. So, in a way, they’re illegal. City officials say they have, out of necessity, treated them the same as hotels and motels, which aren’t permitted in areas zoned as residential. And yet where are most rentals through Airbnb, VRBO and other services going to be? Right in your neighborhood, most likely.

Last July, the Fayetteville City Council agreed to let the planning staff begin studying how the city should regulate short-term rentals. On Monday, the city plans a two-hour public meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. in Room 326 at City Hall, 113 W. Mountain St. The goal is to learn what local residents think about short-term rentals by examining the issue through a strengths, weaknesses and opportunities lens.

Fayetteville certainly isn’t alone in trying to regulate these rentals. Back in August, the New Orleans City Council imposed broad new restrictions on them, banning short-term rentals of whole houses not occupied by the owners. It also banned such rentals in the city’s historic areas and set limits on them on commercial properties.

In New Orleans, the situation had gotten out of hand. Neighborhoods had become the sites of what were essentially party houses. But advocates of short-term rentals said the city was being short-sighted and unfairly short-changing property owners who responsibly host guests.

Thankfully, Fayetteville Planning Director Garner Stoll has said the city has not experienced any serious complaints or issues involving short-term rentals in neighborhoods.

With that in mind, we’re certainly hopeful Fayetteville, and any other city seeking to regulate this mini-industry, seeks a balanced approach. Where there are not complaints, new regulations should seek to avoid creating them.

It’s important to keep in mind that people’s homes represent, in most cases, the single largest investment of their lives. That cuts both ways. On the one hand, that means property owners should have a right to use that property in ways that benefit them. On the other, surrounding property owners who have made the same investments have every right to avoid the disturbance of what amounts to a business operated next door.

Certainly, no town wants its residential areas to be overtaken by short-term rentals. The trick will be in finding a balance that protects the character of the community and creates few disruptions.

City planners believe there could be as many as 500 or 600 properties in Fayetteville engaged in the shortterm rental business. That a serious number, and a serious contributor to the local economy.

We certainly suspect the city’s effort will result in more red tape for owners, such as a need to buy a business license. It could get even more complex, though, if the city starts detailing heightened expectations for parking spaces and inspections by city employees.

Just as the city doesn’t want the short-term rental business to go overboard in Fayetteville, it’s important that the city doesn’t go overboard in regulation, either. Essentially, Fayetteville needs to regulate as much as is needed, and not a bit more.

Finding that line will prove the challenge.