CURRENT BILLS

Two potentially devastating bills are currently pending in the state House and Senate – HB 4722 and SB 446. Go to our Action Center here to send letters to your lawmakers to oppose these bills.

The legislation as written, states:

  • “For the purposes of zoning, allof the following apply to the rental of a dwelling, including, but not limited to, short-term rental: (a) It is a residential use of property and a permitted use in all residential zones. (b) It is not subject to a special use or conditional use permit or procedure different from those required for other dwellings in the same zone. (c) It is not a commercial use of property.”
  • The bill goes on to say it “does not prohibit regulation applied on a consistent basisto rental and owner-occupied residences” for inspections. Does your municipality inspect owner-occupied residences?? If no, then you wouldn’t be able to inspect a short-term rental because that wouldn’t be a consistent application of your regulation for both rental and owner-occupied residences.

Other potential hazards of this legislation:

  • If you have a local rental inspection program, this legislation puts it in jeopardy. A lease could be modified for terms of not more than 30 consecutive days and will now be defined as a short-term rental.
  • If your municipality is currently regulating short term rentals, your regulations will be null and void under this legislation.
  • If your community is facing a lack of housing supply and affordability issues, this legislation will only exacerbate that crisis.

Those in support of this legislation will say it’s about property rights. You can support private property rights and still oppose this legislation. When our state legislators say “property rights” they are talking about the property rights of big corporations buying up homes in our communities and turning them into mini hotels. They are not talking about the property rights of the property owner who purchased their forever home because it was a nice quite residential area at the time, and now have to live with a revolving door of vacationers constantly coming and going and causing issues.

We need you to contact the committee members to voice opposition to this all-out attack on local decision-making. Local government is best positioned to know the unique needs of their community when discussing zoning issues. The elected decision makers closest to the people are the most appropriate to determine if something needs to be acted upon to maintain the delicate balance between residential and commercial uses, between residents and investment property owners, and to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents, renters, and vacation visitors.