As New Orleans prepares to revise its short-term rental rules, the city council could decide to effectively ban short-term rentals in residential areas at its next meeting on Thursday, after months of rule changes and moratoriums that have sown confusion on the controversial vacation rental. industry.
Two ordinances on the agenda for the November 3 board meeting would have prove a significant escalation in its efforts to reign over short-term rentals, if passed. A would completely remove the type of short-term residential rental license, and a second would render all residential permits that have already been issued “null and void” and kill all residential permits currently in the process of being applied for. An additional amount of movement direct the Planning Commission to undertake a comprehensive study to consider new rules.
The orders could impact more than 1,300 active permits for short-term rentals in neighborhoods across the city, as well as more than 750 pending applications.
The move comes as the council prepares to rewrite the city’s STR bylaws for the third time since 2016, and after a federal appeals court ruled a key provision of the city’s existing law was unconstitutional. .
The staff of council vice president JP Morrell, who presented the ordinances, declined to provide more information about the proposals before Thursday’s meeting and instead directed questions to the city’s legal department.
Donesia Turner, the city’s attorney, said the two ordinances would prevent “non-compliant uses” of existing residential STRs and give the city a “fresh start” when new STR laws are passed “next year. “.
The last time New Orleans passed laws to reign in short-term rentals was in 2019. One of the central elements of the city’s rules was the requirement that owners of STRs in areas Residential people live in the residences they rent out on platforms like Airbnb, showing they have a homeownership exemption for the property.
This provision was intended to limit what many critics saw as one of the most detrimental impacts of STRs: out-of-town investors buying up entire homes across town to rent out to tourists.
But in August, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the property exemption provision violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution by discriminating against out-of-state property owners.
In an attempt to comply with the ruling, city council passed a motion in August that froze applications for new STRs in residential areas, and another in October that halted permit renewals for existing residential-zoned STRs. . Short-term rentals in commercial areas like the central business district have not been affected by the temporary bans.
Their steps seem to have sown confusion at the town hall. At least one resident, who rents the other side of her shotgun as an STR, said she was able to get her license extended until March 1 – even after the council passed its second moratorium more restrictive on license renewals in October. 20.
Asked about the matter, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said the new moratorium is currently in effect and the city is “not accepting renewals” per the council’s latest motion.
City council members have promised they will have new STR rules drafted by March, when all property owners can reapply for permits under a common set of rules.
It’s not yet clear what exactly the new rules will look like, but Morrell has promised they will be more restrictive than the 2019 regulations, potentially limiting the number of STRs on any given block, according to The lens. The motion directing the CPC to study potential new rules also suggests capping the number of STR licenses per district or that an operator can hold.
In a written statement, Airbnb public policy manager Nia Brown said the active moratorium and proposed orders “threaten the livelihoods of thousands of New Orleansers who, more than ever, depend on sharing revenue. housing to meet the rising cost of living. .”
As the city drafts new regulations, Brown said “we hope hosts will be included in the conversation.”
In the meantime, some STR owners said they were unsure where to turn next: they feared canceling bookings if they couldn’t keep their licenses and losing revenue they relied on to pay their bills. .
“We are the babies who are thrown out with the bathwater,” said one homeowner who runs an STR in a garage behind her house.
Disgruntled STR owners showed up in droves at a Planning Commission meeting on October 25. Some had received an email from Airbnb the night before asking them to attend.
“Urge city leaders to support local residents like you who host responsibly and provide financial benefits to your local community by welcoming travelers from around the world,” the email reads.
But STRs ended up being pushed off the agenda due to the council’s decision to institute the second moratorium, which overturned the first. Many STR owners who came to City Hall said they had followed city rules for years and agreed that policies had to be in place to reign in large companies that run STR.
But some said they had relied on STR revenue to fund home renovations, or even to pay their mortgages.
Rebecca Jostes is a vacation rental property manager for Rare Space Hospitality. She said she came to City Hall last week to represent landlords she works with who have been caught off guard by the city’s moratorium.
“They were able to go from renting to buying a house — and being able to do short-term rentals — because the numbers were working,” she said. “And now they’re on a 30-year mortgage, and they’re freaking out.”
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