In Surprise Vote, Chattanooga City Council Turns Down Short Term Vacation Rentals

  • Tuesday, October 25, 2016

In a surprise vote, the City Council on Tuesday night turned down allowing a process to legalize short term vacation rentals in Chattanooga.

Only Chip Henderson and Jerry Mitchell voted in favor. Opposed were Carol Berz, Yusuf Hakeem, Larry Grohn, Moses Freeman, Ken Smith and Russell Gilbert. Chris Anderson was absent.

Afterward, Councilman Smith said, in light of the vote, he requested "immediate enforcement" on any illegal operation of short term vacation rentals in R-1 zones "where complaints have been filed against them."

At recent public hearings, several people admitted they were operating outside of the current city ordinance, which now allows short term vacation rentals only in R-4.

The action came after several public hearings and extensive work on the wording of the ordinance.

 The second and final reading had been set for the following Tuesday.

Under the proposal, short term vacation rentals would have been allowed in residences with up to nine bedrooms, except that for those in R-1 or R-2 zones the limit will be five bedrooms.

Rentals would have been for up to 30 days.

Operators would have to pay a $125 non-refundable application fee to the city's Land Development Office to obtain a Code Compliance Verification Form.

Operators would have had to aver that they are in compliance on zoning, building, health and life safety code provisions. There must be working smoke alarms. The operator must have a business license and meet maximum occupancy and maximum vehicle requirements.

Those already operating in R-3 and R-4 zones would have had to obtain a certificate from the LDO.

There would have been no on-site signs except where the property is over five acres and not visible from the public road. Then the sign must be at least 50 feet from the public road.

Other rules were:

Occupancy is two persons per bedrooms that are up to 140 square feet. For bedrooms over 140 square feet, occupancy is determined by area of the room divided by 70 square feet.

The operator must collect all applicable taxes.

Adequate parking must be supplied that is not on vegetated areas.

The Land Development Office will review the application, and the Regional Planning Agency will place a sign in the yard of the applicant and mail letters to neighbors within 300 feet.

If there are no objections and all requirements are met, the RPA will inform the LDO that the application should go forward.

If there are objections, an appeal would have gone to the City Council.

 

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