Covington temporarily halts licensing of Airbnbs over housing, compliance concerns

Worried that the city has been negatively impacted by short-term rentals, Covington has put a temporary freeze on the licensing of such properties, officials said.

Two emergency ordinances, approved by the Covington Board of Commissioners Tuesday night, set up a six-month moratorium on the licensing of short-term rental properties in the city, city officials said in a news release.

Officials said the pause will give the city time to "study and rewrite regulations designed to protect neighbors and neighborhoods from the negative impacts" of short-term rentals, most commonly known by the Airbnb brand.

Chief among the city's concerns about short-term rentals is a reduced availability of affordable housing, the changing of “residential neighborhoods into commercial lodging areas and other transient uses" and increased complaints about parking and traffic problems, the release states.

Compliance with the city's current short-term rental regulations is another major worry, city officials said.

Two years after the city adopted rules governing the use of residential properties as short-term rentals, officials said, only 37 rental operators are operating legally in Covington. Most of the current licenses are concentrated in and around MainStrasse Village and the Mutter-Gottes neighborhood, the release states.

Officials say new software, which searches through websites and gathers information, found at least 277 different properties are being advertised as short-term rentals within the city.

The current steps for licensing short-term rentals require individual approval through a public hearing process before the city's Board of Architectural Review and Development, officials said.

That process allows the city to be more deliberate in governing the amount of short-term rentals within a particular block or area and it gives residents the chance to voice their concerns, officials said. But the process is also lengthy and a surge of short-term rentals within the city threatens to overwhelm the licensure board.

City Solicitor David Davidson said the issues surrounding short-term rentals are felt more acutely in Covington than elsewhere in Northern Kentucky due to the city's entertainment options and its proximity to downtown Cincinnati.

In the coming months, commissioners will give the public a chance to speak about short-term rental regulations, the release states.

“We want to make sure the public gets a chance to weigh in – both people who own these units and those who live near them and have concerns,” Commissioner Ron Washington said in the release.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Covington temporarily halts licensing of Airbnbs