I don’t think this is over. It is still illegal to have short term rentals in residential neighborhoods. I hope they start to enforce it.
My understanding is that it was rescinded to prevent waiting to 2020 for a vote to decide. AND, the only reason this went to a ballot vote is because paid signature collectors gathered enough signatures to force the vote (using very deceptive tactics, that I experienced first-hand).
I hope the city council comes up with something, but I worry that a couple years will pass and we get nowhere, and then wish we had the vote in 2020. I think they need to make an exception for MB, since the STVR’s are so prominent. Maybe if they had, there would not have been so much push-back. But please stay out of OB and other areas with the mini-hotels, it is completely inappropriate and illegal in residential neighborhoods.
I am confident if a similar measure ever goes to ballot, the folks at the beach are not going to allow the mini-hotels to operate. It is very unpopular with the residents and the correlation to increasing home prices and rents is very clear.
The proponents of STVR’s claim to want freedom in their property rights, but there is a big difference between commercial and residential property zones. What about the rights of people who purchased a home in a residential zone that are now dealing with commercial enterprises next door. Where is the line drawn? Sounds like some folks think mini-hotels are ok? How about backyard restaurants in residential areas (the people in the mini-hotels need to eat after all)? How about a strip club? Can I fill up my yard with RV’s and rent those out? Can I offer my backyard as a landfill to a chemical company?
I think there is a compromise that can be made to allow people some freedom to rent their homes, but limits the influence of large out of town investors who only care about the bottom line. The out of town investors have no incentive to protect our communities. If STVR’s are left unchecked, I suspect most of the beach areas would eventually end up like MB, where people can only afford to stay there for 1 week per year and very few local residents are living there year round.
