Two things were evident in an hours-long Quality of Life Committee meeting this week: the Houston City Council wants an ordinance governing short-term rentals that will protect neighborhoods from party houses. But without enforceable zoning codes, that may not be possible.
Houston isn’t unique in its plight to regulate Airbnbs and other rental units where guests stay for a weekend or up to 30 days. Cities across the United States have attempted to balance the much-needed revenue that comes from registration fees and hotel occupancy taxes with the complaints of noise and illegal activity in residential neighborhoods. Houston is unique, however, in that the City Council can’t define these rentals as hotels and zone them out of residential areas. Even if they were to do so, other large cities like Dallas have imposed such bans and been sued so the party houses continue to plague neighborhoods while the ordinances on the books remain unenforceable.
An ordinance discussed at last week’s Houston City Council meeting was again on the table for a vote Wednesday but postponed to April 16 for further review. Four council-proposed amendments were revised; one was withdrawn.
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No one is arguing about the requirement for operators and employees to watch a training video on human and sex trafficking — but also no one thinks that will solve the party house problem.
The party house problem is a big one but it’s limited to particular areas with “bad actor” operators, city officials have said. Still, it’s difficult to restrict the bad guys while not punishing the good ones. The City Council has received complaints on 27 properties out of more than 8,500 short-term rentals. More than 700 short-term rental units are in apartment complexes or townhomes, At Large Council Member Sallie Alcorn said.
Alcorn has been at the forefront of the short-term rental debate along with District C Councilwoman Abbie Kamin and Quality of Life Committee Chair Julian Martinez. Alcorn said Tuesday she recently stayed in an Airbnb in another city.
“I got a book of rules that said I couldn’t even play music that could be heard outside or else the compliance officer was going to knock on my door,” she said. “I was like, wow, there’s a short-term rental compliance officer in this city? We don’t have anything like that.
“I know it’s a balance but we have to protect neighborhoods,” Alcorn added. “It’s a real balance because we know there are a lot of responsible owners out there doing the right thing. We don’t want to hurt you … But I won’t bend on a problem property … that has consistent problems that have been adjudicated. There’s something wrong with the owner if this is happening at your property.”
See here for the background, and read the rest for the amendments that were discussed. I agree that the focus should be on the problem properties, the party houses, but it sounds like that’s easier said than done. I guess my approach at this point would be to put something out there, study its effects for six months or a year, and then make revisions as needed. Again, probably easier said than done but you gotta try.
UPDATE: The Houston Landing published this story today about the winding road the STR ordinance has taken, with a few extra details. Wednesday is going to be a fun day for Council.
“City Council can’t define these rentals as hotels”. Yes, they could.