“No Parties or Events,” Says Airbnb. News Roundup.
"NO PARTIES OR EVENTS," SAYS AIRBNB
Airbnb has permanently banned parties and events at its listings, according to an official press release. It first adopted this policy on a temporary basis in August 2020.
If you observe a party or event, you can report it at the Airbnb website. We don’t know how strictly this is enforced by Airbnb or if the reports are shared with the local authorities, so please continue to also notify code enforcement and the police of any issues. The information for that is in the footer of this email.
Airbnb also said it would remove a limit on the number of people its listings are allowed to accommodate at any one time. The reason given is that there are large properties (e.g. castles and resort homes) that can host many more than 16 people.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
The City Council meeting on July 5th covered very important matters that impact our neighborhoods. You can view the video on YouTube via the links below.
Affordable Housing Coordinator Vince Michel spoke on the options to create housing for workers and the challenges that face development.
The water supply is under strain and vulnerable from the drought, according to City Manager Clinton Bailey. The Council is considering going to the next stage of water conservation measures.
Interim Director of City Development Garret Bonn services gave an update on the enforcement of the new STR ordinance. New code enforcement officers and staff members are needed to manage the 1000+ STR permits and properties. Meanwhile, police officers are performing enforcement of late-night violations.
FBGNC's vision for Fredericksburg is consistent with the Path to the Future document. We want to see a high quality of life for residents, a sustainable tourism industry, and policies that keep Fredericksburg livable and prosperous for decades to come. We support the City Council in taking bold action on these issues.
PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION
STR-owner Polly Rickert, real-estate agent Cindy Scroggins, and former-councilman Tom Musselman were appointed to the Planning & Zoning Commission. We are concerned that other candidates were excluded from consideration without the Council's knowledge. We have heard rumors of irregularities in the selection process but do not have more to report at this time.
NEWS ROUNDUP
TEACHER SHORTAGES A CONCERN FOR DISTRICT
The June 29th edition of Fredericksburg Standard reported a shortage of teachers.
It is a continuing struggle to hire teachers who can afford to live in Fredericksburg. Rising real estate prices and high inflation is making it difficult for FISD to keep and hire staff members.
“We had a lot of people who did not live here who came to work for us, but gas prices have increased,” Minshew said. “A lot of our teachers this year have resigned, and they found jobs closer to where they live.”
FISD has 37 new teachers for the 2022-23 school year and 28 teaching positions to fill.
Full article
CITY OF DALLAS CONSIDERS PERMITTING MORE STRS
Last week, the City of Dallas Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee (ZOAC) had its first hearing on the STR issue. They heard the presentation of the Keep it Simple Solution (KISS), which is the consensus option from the Dallas City Council. KISS calls for a zoning ordinance that adds STRs to the definition of Lodging in Section 51A of the Development Code. Lodging is an excluded land use for residential zones in the city. STRs will not be allowed to operate in our neighborhoods if this zoning solution advances through ZOAC and the CPC this summer and is voted on by the City Council in the fall. Dallas residents sent emails by a 4 to 1 margin in support of our position to ZOAC this week. We were outnumbered 2-1 in speakers at the ZOAC public hearing, but that is to be expected since our side all have day jobs! The next skirmish in this battle will be on Thursday July 7. Now more than ever, we need YOU to write to ZOAC/CPC and/or to sign up as speakers for the next meeting! It has been a long road to get here, but we are in the home stretch for victory if we keep up the good fight!
Tom Forsyth
Organizer, Dallas Neighborhood Coalition
President, Oak Park Estates Neighborhood Association
homesnothotelsdallas@gmail.com
txneighborhoodcoalition.com/dallas
WHERE AIRBNBS, VRBOS ARE HAVING AN OUTSIZED IMPACT ON UTAH’S HOUSING MARKET
In particular, these rental properties have eaten up a striking share of housing units in one of Utah’s most popular resort communities, the ski mecca of Park City. Here, short-term rentals made up nearly 43% — almost half — of Park City’s housing stock in 2020.
And now, as mortgage rates tick up, more than 70% of Utahns have been priced out of the state’s median-priced home, which topped $500,000 statewide in February.
Full article
AIRBNB’S BRITISH INVASION FACES POTENTIAL BACKLASH
A 2020 report by macroeconomics research consulting firm Capital Economics showed London listings quadrupled on Airbnb between 2015 and 2019. More than 16% of adults in the U.K. had rented out all or part of their property on a short-term basis over the preceding two years and many landlords shifted from long- to short-term rentals to avoid regulations and to gain flexibility, according to the report.
While data from AirDNA show the U.K. accounted for less than 6% of Airbnb’s global active listings as of May, RBC analyst Brad Erickson wrote this past week that the government’s review of the industry could lead to taxes on short-term rentals or limits to short-term rental capacity in select areas. These actions would make it harder and more expensive to bring new short-term rental supply to market, he wrote. Minister of State for Housing Stuart Andrew said the U.K. government is already authorizing up to double the council taxes in some areas “to tackle the issue of second and empty homes.”
Full article with paywall
