Short-term rentals in unincorporated Clark County will likely be scarce and competition for permits fierce, County Commissioner Tick Segerblom said at a town hall Wednesday night.
“We will legalize them, but there will be limits,” Segerblom said. “We can’t just ignore it anymore.”
Thanks to a law Passed last year by state lawmakers, Clark County, which has staunchly resisted efforts to allow vacation rentals, will be forced to allow them on July 1.
“We are a tourist town. We make our money from tourists, and those tourists pay a good tax and that tax is used to teach or educate our children,” Segerblom said, adding that STRs “really hurt the base of our economy and especially the tax structure.
In 2018, the Current reported that local governments in southern Nevada had lost $45 million in room tax revenue to STRs since 2015, including $33.5 million attributed to properties in Nevada County. Clark unincorporated.
The City of Las Vegas estimated at the time that each rental generates about $3,000 a year in resort tax, or about $20 million a year based on 6,736 rentals.
Airdna, a website that fetches data from STR hosting platforms such as Airbnb, lists 12,740 DOS in Southern Nevada in the fourth quarter of 2021, from 9,676 in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The average monthly rent for an Airbnb in Las Vegas is almost $10,500, or 555% more than the average rent for a long-term lease, according to Airbnb data collected by Compare the Marketa UK-based price comparison website.
“I know I’ve done a lot of work and the Nevada Legislature has done a lot of work for the Clark County Commission, but I think it’s time we started doing that hard work and make these tough decisions,” said MP Rochelle. Nguyen (D) spoke about the bill she sponsored, adding that the ban was not working.
Segerblom said Nguyen’s bill “forces us to face the fact” that Clark County is a haven for unregulated STR operators.
The new law gives the County Commission the ability to impose strict controls on short-term rentals, from occupancy to distance between them, Nguyen said, and a series of town halls will give residents the ability to determine what they expect from their neighborhood.
“Do they want to see the minimum distance requirement of 660 feet or do they want to see something stronger like in the town of Henderson which has 1000 foot distance requirements?” Nguyen asked. “Do they want to have a maximum occupancy of 16 people as the bill allows? Or do they want to have minimum occupancy requirements? »
“The number one complaint I get is about party houses,” Segerblom said, adding that the county is trying to shut them down, but when code enforcement comes, “the party is over.”
Segerblom says the current $1,000 fine is unnecessary.
“I just won $20,000 for a weekend. If you want to fine me a thousand dollars, I’m glad,” Segerblom said, adding that the new law allows a fine of up to $10,000 per day. “We have teeth now, but eventually we’re going to have to go to court and we’re going to have a legal team that is sharp.”
The county could decide to only allow owner-occupied properties, like the City of Las Vegas, which allows landlords to rent a room rather than an entire house.
“Personally, I like homeownership,” Segerblom said. “I think it gives you a lot more control.”
‘If you do owner-occupancy, it’s going to be a disaster,’ said a town hall speaker who only identified himself as Cindy and said she owned short and long-term rentals at Henderson.
Cindy says she pays “$1,500 to $2,500 or more in the town of Henderson every month with my taxes. And it’s a five-bedroom house.
She says allowing a room to be rented won’t generate the money Clark County will need for the enforcement.
Others said restricting STRs to owner-occupied homes would perpetuate unauthorized rentals.
But Nguyen noted that the new law requires licensed operators to include their license information on website platform listings for their property. Local governments can then ask platforms to remove ads without a permit number.
“I broke the law for five years,” said STR operator John Baker, who says he rents a room in his house. “My neighbors are aware. I’ve never had a problem with anyone staying in my house.”
Baker said he thinks the restrictions on owner-occupied rentals should be less stringent than on short-term whole-home rentals.
Owner Lisa Skurow lives amid a number of STRs that have been renovated without a permit, according to Clark County records.
“My big concern is not only that these people are operating illegally, but also giving the consumer the false sense that they are at a safe property,” Skurow said. She encouraged the county to exclude STR operators who have outstanding fines from the licensing process.
County officials said qualified applicants could be selected by lottery, or first-come, first-served, based on a timestamp on their application.
Segerblom cautioned against speculating on properties in hopes of securing a license.
“I would say probably for the first round it can be very difficult to predict whether you will get a license or not. So I wouldn’t risk the heirlooms buying a house, thinking you’re going to get one in the first round.
Former Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, an opponent of the STRs, said the rentals had “exacerbated the housing problem – affordable housing”.
Giunchigliani said the Legislature must review the failure of Senate Bill 57, which would have allowed Clark County to place super priority liens on properties owned by violators. Currently, a lien placed by the government for unpaid fines can remain unpaid until the property is sold.
Giunchigliani also suggested the county ban business owners and only allow owner-occupied properties.
“It’s more than the inconvenience of neighbors,” Giunchigliani said. “It’s really about destabilizing a neighborhood and taking desperately needed housing off the market in Nevada.”
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Assembly Bill 363 requires Clark County to:
- Establish an annual fee to authorize STRs
- Unit Liability Coverage Minimums
- Prohibit the rental of a residential unit or a room in an apartment building.
- Establish a minimum stay of two nights for non-owner occupied properties and one night for owner occupied properties
- Establish a minimum distance of 660 feet between all residential units, except in a multi-family dwelling, and any other minimum separation requirements that council deems necessary
- Requiring a distance of 2,500 feet between STRs and a resort hotel
- Maximum occupancy cannot exceed 16 people per unit
- Limits STRs to no more than 10% of a multifamily dwelling, or to a stricter standard set by the landlord
- Prohibit in the community of common interest unless expressly authorized
- Establish a maximum number of licenses a person can hold, which cannot exceed five licenses per state business license
- Establish a maximum number of authorizations that can be issued for the rental of rooms within the same housing unit
- Define “party” as a gathering of people that exceeds the maximum occupancy of the residential unit
- Prohibit the use of the housing unit for parties, weddings, events or other large gatherings
- Establish specific requirements for noise, waste and safety
- Establish a process for a person to report violations
- Establish a schedule of civil penalties for violations
- The penalty assessed cannot exceed $1,000 for a single violation or the rental value per night of the residential unit, whichever is greater
- The fine for renting accommodation without a license should not be less than $1,000 or more than $10,000 for a single violation
- State operating license required in addition to county authorization.
- The owner must have a designated local representative available 24/7
- Include educational information in the unit, including occupancy limits, emergency phone numbers, safety information, waste requirements, parking rules, and noise regulations.
- The County may suspend or revoke any authorization
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