City to review transient rental policies

HURON — For now and going forward, Huron's government won't allow any more people to apply for a transient rental license. During a recent public meeting, city council members closed the process. This allows them enough time to: • Review the city's bylaws on governing overnight stays in residentially zoned areas, the first comprehensive review since being allowed citywide a few years ago • Investigate ongoing quality-of-life issues related to transient rentals as it applies to parking, noise and more • Receive and incorporate feedback from community members • Come up with, potentially, new policies to better govern transient rentals within their political subdivision What's going on? Transient rental, also known as transient occupancy, refers to the short-term stay of a property, most often for vacation rentals in traditional home-like settings. People often rent out these properties through an application or online service, such as Airbnb or VRBO. It's often defined as the renting, letting, subletting, leasing or subleasing of a dwelling for no more than 30 consecutive calendar days. As of mid-August, anyone who's previously rented out transient rental properties in Huron and done so legally can continue to operate as normal, city manager Stu Hamilton said. "But there will not be any new transient rental licenses issued until the completion of our review process," he added. Why though? "We are at five years of operating under the current transient rental code, and it's time to take a hard look at what works and what doesn't work," Hamilton said. Based on feedback coming from residents and local transient rental owners, "We'll have a fully collaborative process as we review what others are doing and what we believe would work for Huron." As of today, 165 properties throughout Huron legally operate as transient rentals. That equates to roughly 5% of all properties citywide. Another 14 are and will remain on a waiting list. Common complaints expressed by people often relate to: • Parking; Many cars often clog streets with some vehicles illegally stopped in spaces. • Noise; Guests can often cause a ruckus at all hours, including at night, bothering year-round residents. • Density; In some neighborhoods, there are several transient rental properties bunched together, creating an imbalance. "A lot of HOAs (homeowner associations) have banned transient rentals, which takes those homes out of the housing stock," Hamilton said. "So, with that 5%, we are seeing higher density in local areas. We can't have, say, seven transient rentals on a street with only 14 homes. We have to figure it out." For the 165 transient rental properties with licenses, while they can continue welcoming guests into their home, they don't have full-on immunity. "Anyone who currently has a license will, eventually, be up for renewal at some point, as they all do expire at some point," Hamilton said. "Any new legislation we would take up would affect these owners. We won't take away their licenses, but they will have to follow the rules." Hamilton noted violators could have their licenses revoked without the ability to reapply if they don't follow new rules. There's no timeline in place for when council could adopt new transient rental legislation. Simply put, the city just wants to create a fairer and more balanced system as it relates to transient rentals. "We are going to listen to all sides," Hamilton said. "This is not just responding to a resident's complaint. This is responding to all feedback coming from owners so that we have the best system in the fairest way possible."