After a months-long pause, short term rentals are back on in Covington.
The city commission voted 4-1 Wednesday to end a moratorium on rentals appearing on sites like Airbnb.
But there are limitations to properties that are used exclusively for short term rentals. The city will only issue 150 such licenses, with specific caps for the city's historic districts. Each owner is limited to four licenses. There is no limit to the number of licenses for homes that are owner-occupied with rooms rented out. Licenses will cost $500 to obtain and $250 to renew annually.
There were 43 property owners who obtained licenses before the city instituted a moratorium last December. They'll be able to continue renting their units, but will need to renew at the appropriate time.
The rules also create an appeals board for those denied licenses or those accused of violations. The city will also streamline the licensing process as it amends its zoning code in the coming months. You can read the rules in their entirety here.
Mayor Joe Meyer says the new rules are a good compromise.
"There's a balancing act," he said. "We're trying to protect the quality of life in the neighborhoods of the city, while at the same time we provide people the opportunity to take advantage of the financial benefit of short term rentals. So it's always a give and take process."
The city created licensing and zoning requirements for short term rentals in 2020, but passed a temporary moratorium on licenses last December. After that, officials took public input at two in-person meetings and via an online survey.
At those meetings, operators of short-term rentals asked the city to consider the economic benefits of the units, which offer visitors accommodations that are often more affordable than hotels. Some argued that the ability to operate short term rentals incentivizes the purchase and renovation of otherwise unoccupied properties.
But other residents expressed concerns about short-term rentals, saying they can turn residential neighborhoods into what one speaker termed "ghost towns" and should be highly regulated to mitigate issues with noise, parking and safety.
The city instituted its moratorium to address a big upswing in short term rental units. Officials say there were more than 400 unlicensed units listed in Covington.
Commissioner Noland Nicaise was the sole vote against the new rules. He said he'd like to see a higher cap — around 500 licenses perhaps — and more time for public input. He noted that the vote on the new rules took place in a special meeting of commission that was announced just the day before.
"By limiting the number of short term rentals to 150, we could be creating localized monopolies that could affect the quality of those short term rentals and could allow those owners of the licenses to up their prices," Nicaise said.
The moratorium officially ends July 1.