Dallas takes a step forward by banning Airbnbs and VRBO short-term rentals

The City Plan Commission widely recommended Thursday that Dallas prevent short-term rentals in single-family residential neighborhoods.

The advisory committee voted 9 to 4 on the contentious issue, affecting more than 2,000 residences, according to a city analysis. There is no municipal legislation that simply authorizes these short-term rentals; it just doesn’t prohibit them.

“If my granddaughter lives next to a [short-term rental] or between them, is this really what my son-in-law bought a house to have as a neighbor next door, ”said Commissioner Claire Stanard.

The recommendation will be sent to city council for a full vote to define short-term rentals such as Airbnbs and VRBO listings as “dwellings” under city code, which prohibits lodging in single-family residential areas. Short term rentals are defined as rentals of 30 days or less.

The council is likely to choose between three options: updating zoning laws to require owners of short-term rentals to reside in the listed home in single-family residential zones, establishing registration rules and penalties for bad hosts, or prohibit short-term rentals in individual accommodations. -family residential areas.

Dallas is on track to follow Texas cities like Fort Worth and Arlington where short-term rentals are banned in residential areas.

Chairman Tony Shidid, Vice Chairman Brent Rubin and Commissioners Tipton Housewright and Brandy Treadway voted against the measure.

“Rather than blatantly saying we’re not going to do these things, we owe it to our citizens to be a little more nuanced and to have a multifaceted approach to this,” Housewright said.

This does not affect short-term rentals in mixed-use areas of the city.

The Argument

Much of the debate focused on neighborhood safety and quality of life.

A city study completed this month compared 911 and 311 calls from registered and potential short-term rentals to other residences. The study looked at appeals for parking, litter and noise complaints. The study counted more than 2,600 short-term rentals in the city of Dallas, 88% of which are not related to a complaint. A report of 123 rentals had a history of two or more calls.

There were a few rentals tied to 30 or more calls, city staff told commissioners.

Some commissioners, such as P. Michael Jung, have shared concerns about response times to enforcement of short-term rental laws, saying a response that takes hours or days is often too late to detect a offense.

Stanard said there is also a disparity in the rate of people filing complaints.

“People don’t tend to call. Obviously I’m not going to call the police, because I don’t like the number of cars in my neighborhood,” she said.

She thinks that if these rentals are allowed to operate in single-family residential areas, other commercial businesses might make the case for operating in the neighborhoods.

Some commissioners said many short-term rentals are owned by large investment companies or landlords who don’t live in the area. Jung said that while he understands it will impact income for some, those homeowners can still make money by renting out their home on a long-term rental basis.

City Hall has been divided on this issue for years, but unified in its interest in holding hosts or irresponsible guests accountable. Since 2020, three working groups, studies and several public meetings have sought to find regulations on these properties.

“I don’t believe regulation is the only solution to this problem,” said Commissioner Melissa Kingston.

Moreover, commissioners shared that it was difficult to pass this recommendation by fragmenting the larger residential issue. The commission also discussed cohabitation and secondary suites like mother-in-law’s suites and lived-in garages. There are separate committees for land use, compliance and zoning.

Commissioner Lorie Blair said she felt this was only part of the puzzle and that voting on land use without knowing about potential compliance changes seemed short-sighted.

“I’m confused, I’m frustrated and I’m angry,” Blair said. “I’m angry that our process sucks.”

There were disagreements over whether these properties are healthy for a city.

City Housing Director David Noguera has pleaded for solutions, saying that if short-term rentals were outright banned, they would not go away, but simply go “underground”. He doesn’t think the city should view this as a binary issue, but rather how to equip the city to track and tax these rentals.

“You see so many people using it because there’s a need for it,” Noguera told the commissioners. “The question is what is the right mix? What is the correct ratio we should have of mixed housing options in our market? »

Kingston cited studies from Carnegie Mellon and the University of Massachusetts that conclude that Airbnb rentals in marketplaces increase rents and housing costs.

“It’s no secret that we have an affordable housing crisis in our city,” she said. “They’re pushing people out who would live there and pushing them further and further away.”

The public outcry

Dozens of people came out to share their comments, most of which were against short-term rentals.

The anti-rental voice was vocal, citing examples of “party houses” with loud music, drugs, heavy trash and limited parking. Some have called these rentals “the commercialization of neighborhoods.”

Olive Talley said the commission had to decide between the profits of investors and the sanctity of the community.

“Please use your power and your leadership to put the welfare of the Dallas owners who invest our lives here above the vested interests of mostly absentee opportunists who care little for the quality of life in the city” , she told the commissioners.

A handful of short-term rental owners and the Dallas STR Alliance have come out in favor of these rentals. They want more municipal standards and regulations for these short-term rentals, like requiring landlords to live in the residence, inspections and density limitations.

“Why do you want to zone [short-term rentals] disappeared while 88% are good operators? Dallas STR Alliance and short-term rental owner Lisa Sievers asked.

Airbnb has announced measures to limit neighborhood parties this holiday season. The short-term rental company said on Thursday it would ban some overnight bookings over New Year’s Eve for property listings, as it did last year.

“Specifically in Dallas, over 2,450 people were deterred by our various anti-party defenses from booking entire house listings on NYE 2021,” the press release read.