Position Taken by John Myers, Columbus Realtors
City Council Hearing - June 14, 2018
Good evening Council Pro Tem Stinziano and members of council that are here. My name is John Myers. I am president elect of Columbus Realtors. I’m also speaking on behalf of the Columbus Apartment Association.
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Myers - Click to enlarge |
bnbBlight: If the Columbus Realtors see no problem with Short-Term Rentals (str), then the ethical thing to do would be to warn potential buyers of a house near a STR by using the Multiple-Listing Service (MLS). |
I will keep this brief as Council and the administration know our positions on this issue. Our members certainly understand concerns surrounding short-term rentals. We fully realize there are a few bad actors and it takes just one, however we believe the issues mentioned are best handled by the appropriate authorities and the issues aren’t just limited to short-term rentals. As a property manager I can assure you sound, trash, partying, parking, funny smells can be a nuisance for all types of property not just short-term rentals. This can include owner occupied properties or hotels. It there is an unwanted or illegal activity next door, they can be reported to the appropriate authority and dealt with. Well, we heard a few stories at the last hearing, we are likely to hear a few tonight.
bnbBlight: other cities have banned non-owner occupied Short-Term Rentals. This eliminates the enforcement issue of day counting. [Click for other cities' regulations] |
The cap on days wouldn’t be effective in addressing any of those concerns. What it would do is essentially ban non-owner occupied short-term rentals, not to mention is likely unenforceable. Restricting the ability of property owners to rent their property is not the Columbus way. As we have stated previously, we support code enforcement with criminal penalties where applicable and we believe it is fair for the city to collect a short-term rental excise tax that we also are amenable to the short-term rental registration as proposed. Our concern is with the negative impact on private property rights that a cap on days would impose.
bnbBlight: The "Columbus Way" is not to dump strangers into the middle of a residential neighborhood. Commercial businesses should not be intermixed with residential homes. this has been addressed by zoning regulations for generations. |