Scottsdale is getting tough on short-term rental properties

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — By the end of the year, the Scottsdale Police Department will have a dedicated unit tasked with handling nuisance parties at short-term rentals in the city.

Four officers and a sergeant will be free to respond quickly to parties, and they can impose civil penalties on owners and party organizers.

Councilman Betty Janik was one of the driving forces behind the new ordinance, which will go into effect when the city begins its next fiscal year.

Janik said she realized short-term rentals and unwelcome parties were a problem when she campaigned in 2020.

“The complaint I heard most often was, ‘My block is falling apart. My neighborhood is in ruins. We have short term rentals. They drink. They do drugs. They are wild,” Janik said.

Key to the order is enforcement, requiring landlords who rent to provide a contact person to the City who can be on site within an hour of a complaint.

“Once you have that emergency contact number, it’s easier to try to reduce the noise, the issues with short-term rentals in a more immediate, more reasonable way,” Janik said.

Scottsdale Police are also handling numerous noise complaints according to Sgt. Allison Sempsis. These complaints are often at the bottom of the list of emergencies they respond to. The new unit will have to deal with nuisance rentals and parties as a priority.

“We want this to be a deterrent so that our citizens feel safe in their neighborhoods, have respectful neighbors, and people can also come to Scottsdale and have a good time, but know that they have to keep it in. boundaries and the order not to be a harmful party,” Sempsis said.

The Scottsdale City Council approved the new ordinance by unanimous vote. The initiative will be funded, in part, by Proposition 207, which legalized recreational cannabis in the state.

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