Peoria council passes short-term rental ordinance

The Peoria City Council passed a new ordinance to address short-term rentals in the city on Oct. 18.

This type of rental – a property rented by the owner for 29 days or less – has seen a meteoric rise in recent years and has become a $15 billion industry in the United States with approximately $350 million in tax revenue in Arizona. in 2020 .

Such has been the case in Peoria where there are approximately 550 houses/rooms for short term rent throughout the city.
The state legislature stepped in, creating laws regulating the industry in Arizona, and now Peoria has passed its own city-specific law.

City Manager Jeff Tyne said with recent state legislation, the city has new opportunities to address some of the most high-profile issues that have arisen due to the growth of the short-term rental industry. term.

“We’ve seen an incredible increase in short-term rentals over the past few years,” he said. “With the growth of home rental programs such as Airbnb and others, we have seen a proliferation of these home rental arrangements across the state and also here in Peoria. With this growth comes a number of different challenges.

The Arizona State Legislature has enacted at least three laws regulating short-term rentals, most recently, earlier this year the Governor signed SB 1168 into law, which went into effect September 24, allowing municipalities to pass and enforce residential use and zoning ordinances, as well as limit or prohibit the use of a rental for specific purposes.

A study session on this topic was held on September 13th.

Neighborhood and Social Services Manager Chris Hallett said the city’s new ordinance includes good neighbor practices and neighborhood mediation that are consistent with Peoria’s other neighborhood notification and community engagement practices.

With so many rentals all over Peoria, the city wants to make it easier for people to get compliant and make it easier upstream with accountability downstream, he said.

“The law allows us to have really good opportunities for transparency about what’s going on in people’s neighborhoods,” he said.

The new ordinance aligns with state law by including civil penalties and/or suspension of registration for violators.
Mayor Cathy Carlat said she wants state law to be stricter.

“I’m in favor of not charging a fee to enroll as many people as possible,” Carlat said. “We’re not looking to make money from this, but we’re looking to know who to contact if there’s a problem, and to have a bit more control over that.”

Philip Haldiman can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @philiphaldiman.