Short-Term Rental Resolution

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Sheri Gallo
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Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:47 pm

Short-Term Rental Resolution

Post by Sheri Gallo »

Update On the Short-Term Rental Enforcement Resolution from Council Member Sheri Gallo & District 10 office

Over the past 2 months the District 10 Council office has held meetings with District 10 neighborhoods to hear what specific problems they are having with non-compliant and non-licensed short-term rental properties and hear their suggestions on how to improve code enforcement of non-compliant short-term rentals. Our office has also met with representatives from the Austin Board of Realtors, Real Estate Council of Austin, Austin Rental Alliance and HomeAway to discuss their suggestions on how to strengthen the enforcement of non-compliant and non-licensed short-term rentals.

Staff members from the Austin Code Department, including Director Carl Smart, Marcus Elliott, Elaine Garrett and a representative from the city manager's office, joined us for each meeting to provide detailed updates on specific short-term rental properties and participate in the discussion of solutions to improve enforcement of city code violations. We really appreciate their involvement, time and expertise.

As a result of these meetings my office has received over 90 recommendations from neighbors, industry associations and city staff which have been incorporated into our Resolution.

In addition this week my office met with staff from the Code Department, Law Department and other council offices to prepare the Resolution which is shown below. The Resolution which contains the proposed changes to the existing short-term rental ordinance will be presented at our August 13th Council Meeting. The first part of the Resolution addresses enforcement tools that the Code Department already has with the existing Ordinance and the second part of the Resolution addresses the suggested amendments which we recommend be added to the existing Ordinance.

At the August 13th Council Meeting the City Manager will also present his recommendations. Both my Resolution and the City Manager’s recommendations will be referred directly to the Planning & Neighborhood Council Committee for committee discussion and public comment on Monday, August 17th at 4pm. We encourage citizens to attend this meeting and participate in the discussion. The Planning & Neighborhood Council Committee’s recommendation will then be placed on City Council’s Thursday, August 20th agenda for consideration and action. This timeline was discussed and agreed to by the Planning & Neighborhoods Council Committee at their June 15th meeting.

Once the Council passes a Resolution with changes to the existing Short-Term Rental Ordinance, the following process which will take place:
1) The City Manager will direct city staff to start developing specific language for the proposed code amendments.
2) The Planning Commission’s Codes & Ordinances Subcommittee will review and approve the proposed code amendments.
3) The Planning Commission will hold the 1st Public Hearing to review and approve the proposed code amendments. Notice will be posted and public comment will be heard.
4) The City Council will hold the 2nd Public Hearing to review and approve the proposed code amendments. Notice will be posted and public comment will be heard.
It has been indicated to us that because of Commission and Council schedules and the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays this process would probably take 4-5 months to complete.

Please remember, it is not our intention to affect the operations of the short-term rentals whose owners are operating in compliance with city code and the ordinance. Our goal is to fix the lack of enforcement of short-term rentals which are disrupting our neighborhoods by operating in violation of the ordinance or operating without a license.

I look forward to working together with you to reach this goal!

RESOLUTION NO.
WHEREAS,on June 18, 2015, the City Council passed Resolution No. 20150618-078, directing the City Manager to assess and develop immediate long-term solutions, among other things, for better enforcement of short-term rentals operating in violation of the City Code, or operating without a license; and
WHEREAS, the Council further directed the City Manager to present his findings, report and recommendations to the Council no later than August 13, 2015; and
WHEREAS, the Council further directed the City Manager to bring forth a resolution at the August 20, 2015 Council Meeting to initiate proposed code amendments, including: (1) add a penalty for operating without a license; (2) add a requirement to include an occupancy limit statement in advertisements; (3) add a noncompliance penalty for operating with an expired license; (4) add an inspection requirement; (5) strike Section 25-2-791(G), the “Test the Waters” provision, of the City’s Land Development Code; and
WHEREAS, in response to Resolution No. 20150618-078 the Austin Code Department launched a pilot Public Assembly Code Enforcement (PACE) Team specifically to address complaints related to short-term rentals including over-occupancy of homes, noise disturbances, illegal parking, operating without a license, etc; and
WHEREAS, this pilot PACE team involved staff members from various City departments, including the Austin Code Department, Austin Police Department and Austin Fire Department, and operated during non-office hours, including weekends and late evening and early morning hours, for the month of July
To provide enhanced enforcement of City Code requirements for short-term rentals; and
WHEREAS,
during the month of July some Council offices held meetings with various stakeholders, including representatives from neighborhoods, associations, industry, and City staff, to determine if the Austin Code Department is not making full use of existing resources or if the enforcement component in
City Code needs to be strengthened; and
WHEREAS, from these stakeholder meetings, hosted by Council offices, it appears the difficulty in enforcing noncompliant and non-licensed short-term rentals is a combination of the City not taking full
advantage of its existing authority and enforcement components that need to be strengthened in the current City Code; and
WHEREAS, it is in the City’s best interest to ensure compliance with short-term rental regulations and other City codes including occupancy limits, noise and amplified sound restrictions, improper disposal of trash, and zoning and land use regulations, to protect the quality of life in our neighborhoods;
NOW,
THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN:
The City Manager is directed to immediately utilize all existing enforcement tools under current City Code , including, but not limited to,:
1.the authority to suspend a short-term rental license for violations of the City Code, such as:
a.advertising the availability of a short-term rental property for uses not allowed by the property’s zoning; and
b.advertising or promoting a licensed short-term rental without including the license number as required in Section 1303 (B) in City Code Section 25-12-213 (Local Amendments to the International
Property Maintenance Code);and
2.the administrative hearing process, defined in City Code Chapter 2-13(Administrative Adjudication of Violations);and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
To protect the welfare of the citizens of Austin, the Council directs the City Manager to provide more information to residents on how to make a complaint about a short-term rental property in their area.
•This information should be posted on the City’s short-term rental website or a similar City website that can be easily found by a resident.
•This information should also be included in any short-term rental notification sent to surrounding properties as outlined in City Code Section 25-2-792 (Notification Requirements).
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
The City Manager is directed to re-evaluate existing processes to better track complaints related to short-term rentals.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
The City Manager is directed to take immediate necessary steps to achieve the following objectives:
1.Include statements in short-term rental applications that are similar to the following:
a.“I understand that I am responsible for complying with any deed restrictions and restrictive covenants prohibiting certain uses on this property. If a conflict should result with any of these restrictions, it
will be my responsibility to resolve it;”
b.“I hereby certify that to the best of my knowledge and ability, the information provided in this application is complete and accurate;”and
c.“I attest that the property will not be rented above the occupancy limit defined in City Code or in violation of the current short-term rental ordinance.”
2.Provide a funding proposal, which can be discussed by Council during theFiscal Year 2015-16 budget process that will ensure that the Austin Code Department recovers its costs for the short-term rental
program.
3.Improve communication with the Travis County Sheriff's Office as it relates to short-term rentals located within the City’s limited purpose district and, if necessary, explore negotiating an interlocal agreement.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
The City Council initiates and directs the City Manager to process amendments to the City Code that are
necessary to achieve the following objectives:
1.Add the existing requirement to include license numbers in advertisements as required by Section 303
in City Code Section 25-12-213 (Local Amendments to the International Property Maintenance Code) to Subpart C under Division 1 of Article 4-Additional Requirements for CertainUses of City Code;
2.Add a Bad Actor Clause similar to City Code Section 25-2-818(N);
3.Add short-term rentals to Section 1301 in City Code Section 25-12-213(Local Amendments to the International Property Maintenance Code) inspection requirements in Chapter 13 of the Local Amendments;
4.Require inspection, including septic systems, during the application or approval process for all short-term rentals;
5.Require short-term rentals to have property insurance that has commercial liability coverage (business liability); require the applicant to provide proof of commercial liability coverage during the application process; and make failure to maintain commercial liability coverage to suspend or revoke the license;
6.Require operators to maintain a guest registry;
7.Require short-term rental license holders to comply with noise requirements;
8.Set the occupancy limit for short-term rentals as the lesser of:
a.six adults;
b.four adults in the area defined in City Code Section 25-2-511(C) and (D); or
c.not more than two adults per bedroom;
9.Prohibit occupancy of a short-term rental when the building permit prohibits occupancy of the structure;
10.Consider including a prohibition against locating new Type 2 short-term rentals within 1000 feet of another existing licensed Type 2 short-term rental. The prohibition should include a grandfathering clause for existing Type 2 short-term rentals that comply with City Code; and
11.Authorize the Code Official to suspend or revoke a license when false information is included in a license application and when the license is issued in error, similar to City Code Section 25-1-411-SUSPENSION OF A PERMIT OR LICENSE:
§ 25-1-411-SUSPENSION OF A PERMIT OR LICENSE.
(A)The accountable official may suspend a permit or license if the official determines that:
(1) the permit or license was issued in error; or
(2) the permit or license holder has not complied with the requirements of this title.
(B)A suspension is effective until the official determines that the permit holder has complied with the requirements of this title.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
The
City Manager is directed to bring the proposed code amendments to Council for consideration within 150 days. Changes that do not require code amendments should be fully implemented within six (6) months, with monthly updates to be provided until all of the changes have been implemented.
Sheri Gallo, Council Member District 10