Athens-Clarke County is asking owners of short-term rentals to help fact-check a list of houses for rent on sites like Airbnb and VRBO that may not be in compliance with new regulations. The list, prepared by an outside vendor, includes about 800 properties and is available at accgov.com/str.
The ACC Commission passed an ordinance regulating STRs in February in response to complaints about noise and parking caused by “party houses” in residential neighborhoods. Critics also contended that taking houses off the market to function as full-time short-term rentals is also driving up prices for residents.
In single-family zones, homeowners or long-term tenants can only rent out their homes for up to 30 days a year, provided they live in the home the rest of the time. Year-round vacation rentals are not allowed in single-family neighborhoods under the ordinance. They are, however, allowed in other zones like commercial and multifamily, although the owner must obtain a permit and pay taxes.
Some of the properties, culled from online listings, are on the nonconforming list because they’re in a single-family zone but not owner-occupied, acting Planning Director Bruce Lonnee told Flagpole. Others are listed because they don’t have adequate parking or don’t meet some other regulation in the law.
The owners of properties listed can either dispute the listing if they believe their property is conforming. Or, if they own an STR that isn’t listed and isn’t in compliance, they can ask to be placed on the list. The advantage of being on the list is that those owners will have two years to come into compliance with the ordinance. Otherwise, nonconforming STRs will have to cease operating six months after the list was published in early July, Lonnee said. “Compliance is the goal,” he said.
Complicating matters, the county is facing a lawsuit filed by STR owners, and commissioners are considering some sort of remedy that would allow owners to recoup their investment in now-nonconforming STRs. However, Lonnee said that right now the planning department is operating under the law as currently written.
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