Athens residents who are eager to find out whether Athens-Clarke commissioners are leaning toward weakening recently passed restrictions on short-term rentals will have to wait a while longer. But one direction they could be headed is an appeals process that would allow investors who’ve recently purchased an STR to gain an extension on the sunset provision included in the legislation that passed Feb. 6.
At a Monday meeting of the commission’s Government Operations Committee, assistant county attorney John Hawkins suggested a “relief valve” as a way out of commissioners’ dilemma. On one hand, full-time “party houses”— often owned by out-of-towners—listed as vacation rental homes are quite unpopular, especially in neighborhoods near campus like Five Points. On the other hand, the county faces the likelihood of a lawsuit since passing legislation to ban even existing STRs, not just new ones, in single-family neighborhoods, after two years unless the property owner also lives there. (Homeowners who rely on sites like Airbnb for extra income remain free to rent out a room, an outbuilding or their entire house.)
The “relief valve,” as explained by Hawkins, would involve some sort of administrative appeals process. An STR owner who’s not also the occupant could go before a hearings officer and argue that they had bought the property under the impression that it could be used as an STR, and that due to the sunset clause they cannot recoup their investment. If successful, the owner could be granted an extension. It’s possible that such a procedure could insulate the county against legal claims that the sunset clause amounts to a “taking” under Georgia law.
The GOC is scheduled to meet again Feb. 29 and come up with some sort of policy recommendation by mid-March. That recommendation would have to go to the planning commission, an appointed advisory board, before coming back to the county commission for a vote in May, under a compromise brokered by Mayor Kelly Girtz when ACC commissioners deadlocked on the STR proposal earlier this month.
Meanwhile, just a week after the Athens-Clarke County Commission passed new restrictions on STRs like those listed on Airbnb and VRBO, six state legislators introduced a bill that would bar local governments from regulating STRs that already exist. House Bill 1121 would outlaw sunset provisions like the one now in ACC law. If passed and signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, any regulations passed by local regulations would only apply to new STRs, not ones currently listed.
The bill has been assigned to the House Government Affairs Committee. State Rep. Houston Gaines (R-Athens) is a member of that committee. Gaines’ district includes Five Points, where residents have most loudly complained about “party houses” and the parking and noise problems they create.
Gaines told Flagpole—in comments after last week’s print deadline—that a House bill banning local governments from regulating existing STRs would not affect Athens-Clarke County, since it was filed after the ACC Commission passed its ordinance. Gaines said he couldn’t comment on the substance of the bill because it’s undergoing revisions.
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