CLEVELAND — The party is over if Cleveland City Council passes new legislation, introduced Monday night, to regulate short-term rentals, like Airbnb and Vrbo.
The ordinance, sponsored by Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack, comes after hundreds of complaints in recent years by residents.
"My office has been flooded with complaints," McCormack said. "We get complaints about noise, about people parking all over the place. Parties, shootings — you name it, we've experienced it, and so the city needs a mechanism to crack down on that type of behavior."
The proposed new regulations include:
- Requiring all short-term rentals be licensed. License application and annual renewal $150.
- Rentals cannot be advertised without a license.
- A local contact must be available at all times the property is used as a short-term rental and must be able to be onsite in one hour if contacted.
- Proof of at least $300,000 in liability insurance required.
- STR applications will be reviewed by different departments for approval and council members will be notified of applicants.
- STRs cannot be rented to any guest for more than 30 consecutive days or less than 24 hours.
- The maximum number of people is 2 per bedroom plus 2 additional people.
- Density limitation. In a residential district, STRs are limited to at least one or no more than 15% of the total residential homes on the block or units in a multi-unit building.
- Booking agents are required to register and provide name, address, phone number of at least one person who’s in charge of occupancy taxes and is available to take any action to address violations of owner's or operator's responsibilities.
- Fines will be imposed for violations of the law, including failure to obtain a license. The civil penalties are in addition to any other civil or criminal penalties that may be charged.
However, Airbnb hosts like Mike Kowal bristle at more government regulation.
"It chops the knees out from under people that have worked on Airbnbs so hard," he told claimed.
Kowal prides himself as a responsible small business owner who contributes to the local economy by renovating homes for short-term rentals.
"Whereas opposed to that house would have just been sitting there vacant and it would have had to be condemned," he added. "But we went in, fixed it up, and now it's nice and it's actually usable."
McCormack says most people don't seem to realize that full-time short-term rentals — for example, buying a home and using it exclusively as an Airbnb — have been illegal in Cleveland for decades. The proposed ordinance would allow it, but with restrictions.
Airbnb reacted to the proposed legislation in this statement to 3News:
"Home sharing has been an important part of the fabric of Cleveland for decades, enabling the City to welcome visitors whose spending supports local businesses and creates economic opportunity for residents. We welcome the opportunity to work with the City of Cleveland on fair, balanced rules that provide certainty and clarity for Hosts and continue to bolster the local tourism economy."
City Council could vote on the proposal in the next two weeks.