SAN ANGELO, TX - The legality of short-term rentals under City of San Angelo ordinance goes before city council today. This is the city council’s second attempt to create clarity in their response to the sharing economy.
The Economist defines the sharing economy as “on the Internet, everything is for hire.” Including the ability to rent your residential home to strangers.
Short-term rentals are one or two-day rentals, sometimes over a weekend, where a homeowner places a residential dwelling up for “rent” on sharing websites like AirBnB.com. The convenience of making spare change has encouraged a small cottage industry of real estate investors to purchase homes expressly for the purpose of renting them via short-term rental websites.
The STR has one problem. The neighbors don’t want a commercial enterprise operating next to them.
On Aug. 2, facing a room full of protestors generally against allowing STRs, the city council unintentionally punted on the issue, and, according to some, effectively banned STRs. The current city code forbids rentals in residential zoned areas of less than 30-days unless that property can fall under bed and breakfast definitions.
A bed and breakfast must have the owner-operator on-premises, a feature AirBnB.com renters do not do.
The ordinance failed 3-4 because some on council who are in favor of allowing STRs thought the new regulations in the proposed ordinance onerous. Particularly, Councilman Harry Thomas and Charlotte Farmer expressed support of STRs, but voted against the ordinance.
How the two will vote today is not known.
Today, Planning & Development Services Director Jon James presents a revised proposed ordinance with an additional provision that the city’s licensing of a STR property only last two years. After two years, the property must be recertified. According to James, this allows residents living nearby to lobby the city to protest the renewal based upon the behavior of the property owner’s STR tenants. The provision is called “conditional use.”
James said he met with all parties in opposition to STRs and STR owners to hammer out the additional provision.
At the Aug. 2 city council meeting, however, the objection seemed to be confusion over the extra regulation defining and regulating an STR. The proposed ordinance will add an additional restriction.
Mayor Dwain Morrison, who is in favor of allowing STRs, believes the ordinance previously failed because council members generally in favor of allowing STRs did not fully understand STRs are illegal under existing code.
Here is where the council stood before the Aug. 2 vote:
| Council Member | Short-Term Rentals | Voted to Legalize STRs |
|---|---|---|
| Morrison | For | For |
| Gonzalez | For | For |
| Farmer | Leans For | Against |
| Self | Leans For | For |
| Richardson | Against | Against |
| Thomas | For | Against |
| Carter | Leans Against | Against |
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Comments
I sincerely hope the city does allow short term rentals. I have no personal interest in the question, as I am not an owner of short term rentals, nor am I looking to own one in the future. However, I have rented short term rentals many, many times and feel like I do have some insight into the situation.
As the parent of a large family, short term rentals are the only way we are able to take vacations. STR's make the difference between being able to travel with my family and not being able to travel with my family. If we had to get rooms in a hotel every time we went somewhere, we could not go. STR's enable us to cook at least breakfast before we leave for the day to go enjoy the sites. It gives us room to all stay together instead of splitting into separate hotel rooms. This does not keep us from spending money in the community where we are staying (as has been put forward). In reality, it leaves us with more expendable money for entertainment, dining out, etc.
I do understand the concerns that other residents have for having a short term rental in their neighborhood. However, there are existing laws to deal with noise complaints, possibilities of a criminal element in the neighborhood, etc. My question is, how are those concerns any different than with a long-term rental property in your neighborhood? Bad neighbors can happen anywhere. If you get one in a STR, at least it's only a few days.
Another complaint I've heard against STR's is that you don't end up with actual "neighbors" in those homes, people you can become friends with and your children can play with. Reality is, MOST people renting STR's are just like my family, and my kids would love to play with neighborhood kids if they were outside playing. You can't be neighborly to someone for a few days?
Another reality is that this is San Angelo, not New York City or even Austin. If you are coming to San Angelo, you probably have some reason to be here. Most people aren't traveling to San Angelo as a tourist. With the possible exception of the Lake Nasworthy area, I don't see anyone renting a STR to come to San Angelo and party it up. You are here visiting family or doing business, not coming here for all the entertainment San Angelo provides. There are only so many STR's that could exist in San Angelo and still be sustainable for the property owners. It's not like entire neighborhoods are going to be taken over by them.
Another problem I have with restricting/prohibiting STR's is just straight up property rights. San Angelo has gotten terrible about property rights these last couple of decades. When my husband and I decided to remodel about 5 years ago, we had to scrap adding an addition on and the replacement of some of our outdated windows just because of the ridiculous requirements the city planning department placed on us. We're stuck with old, inefficient windows in one of our rooms only because of the City of San Angelo.
As for STR's, a property owner who finds themselves needing to move but unable to sell their house should be able to choose to make their mortgage payments how they see fit. Would it be better for a neighborhood to have a kept up property which is occasionally occupied by travelers, or a property sitting empty and unattended and possible in foreclosure?
I do see STR's as an improvement for the economy in San Angelo. Reality is, the "sharing" economy is here to stay and San Angelo cannot avoid it forever. Are we going to go through the same argument when Uber or Lyft hit San Angelo?
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PermalinkCompletely with your post Brook Davis. Very good points, all of them. I don't usually log in but I have to ask because I'm a property owner in San Angelo and had planned to rent my house on short term basis after I renovate..probably in 5 or 6 years. May I ask what the city required for the "replacement of some of our outdated windows just because of the ridiculous requirements the city planning department placed on us." I currently have old single pane large windows in the original part of my house. I love them but I'm looking to change them out soon. Any advice or information would be helpful. Thanks.
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PermalinkWe have high windows in the kid's bedroom, which I like. Because it was a bedroom, we would have had to lower them down like 3 feet, I guess so fat firemen can crawl through. So, we would have had to cover a humongous cut-out to accommodate any standard windows.
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PermalinkWow! Thanks Brook for responding. I guess I won't have to worry about that then. All my windows are "normal" I guess.
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PermalinkSorry about that... "I suppose" :-) I should have re-read my post before posting.
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