Candidate Forum Tonight
Hello, neighbors and allies.
Due to your actions and ours, we are close to carrying the STR ordinance over the finishing line! The City Council will meet on Monday, 3/21 at 6 PM at the Law Enforcement Center to discuss draft 6. Please share your support with the Council Members. I was pleased that Tom Musselman called for stiffer penalties in the last meeting.
Currently, the penalties for bad actors are the following:
STR Ordinance Sec. 5.401 (12) iii Any property operating as a Short-Term Rental, without a permit, shall be prohibited from receiving a Short-Term Rental permit for a minimum of one (1) year.
Code of Ordinances, Appendix B - Zoning Ordinance. Sec. 6.310. Penalty. Any person violating any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall, upon conviction, be fined a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00); and each and every day that the provisions of this ordinance are violated shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
Let’s remember what is at stake. My coworker told me yesterday how she was welcomed by her neighbors with a yard party. The neighbors knew each other and cared about each other. 5 years later, all of those neighbors are gone - replaced by strangers staying at the neighboring short-term rentals. These strangers party late into the night and toss beer cans into her yard. Meanwhile, her daughter, who also lives in Fredericksburg, struggles to pay $1800 per month for a small, creaky, old house. She lives under the constant fear that the house will be sold to an STR developer, leaving her with no place to live. When you talk with your neighbors and acquaintances, you’ll likely hear similar stories of the crushing impacts of STRs in our community.
We are prevailing for now. The truth is only a small number of moneyed interests wish for entire-home, short-term rentals while the majority of residents despise them. No amount of advertising dollars or slide decks of economic data will change that. And no amount of tourism dollars will bring back our neighborhoods - only through having a friendly person living in the house next door will we rebuild our community.
- Michael Perkola
Candidate Forums
The Gillespie County Democratic Association will host a candidate forum at 6:30 PM tonight at Gillespie County Historical Society, Sanctuary Hall at 312 W. San Antonio Street. This is an opportunity to meet and hear from our local candidates for Mayor and City Council.
The Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce will host its event on Thursday, April 7 at 6 PM at Hill Country University Center.
TUNE IN
Around 3 PM on Thursday, March 24 on KNAF 910 Am, Roy Holley will talk with Michael Perkola about the work of Fredericksburg Neighborhood Coalition and the impacts of STRs on neighbors and workers.
NOW ACCEPTING DONATIONS
We are now accepting donations, which we spend on marketing communications. We welcome your contributions to the following:
Fredericksburg Neighborhood Coalition
c/o Ray Rodgers
150 East Main Street, Suite 208
Fredericksburg, TX 78624