Why Louisville might temporarily stop new Airbnbs from opening

Bailey Loosemore, Louisville Courier Journal
Updated ·3 min read
This property at 902 East Liberty Street operates as a short-term rental in Louisville, Ky. on Apr. 17, 2023.
This property at 902 East Liberty Street operates as a short-term rental in Louisville, Ky. on Apr. 17, 2023.

A citywide moratorium on new short-term rentals is moving forward as Louisville officials continue to respond to residents' concerns about how the properties are regulated.

Last week, the city's planning and design department published a list of recommendations meant to close loopholes in Louisville's current legislation and address complaints from residents who say the rentals are taking over their neighborhoods.

Shortly after, the Planning and Zoning Committee made up of eight Metro Council members approved sending a temporary moratorium on to the full council – a move meant to stop new rentals from opening while the legislative changes are discussed.

Background: Are Airbnbs taking over Louisville's neighborhoods? Why some residents want stricter rules

Residents who've spoken against the proliferation of short-term rentals, booked through websites such as Airbnb and VRBO, say both the moratorium and recommendations are positive steps toward cracking down on the businesses.

But they also say the proposed changes don't go far enough to address some of their biggest concerns.

For example, short-term rentals will still be allowed to open in properties zoned office-residential without receiving a conditional-use permit.

Permits are required in areas zoned purely residential and are intended to prevent an over-concentration of short-term rentals.

Neighborhoods like Phoenix Hill that have large swaths of office-residential zoning have seen a large uptick in short-term rentals in recent years, with some residents saying the businesses are driving up housing costs and reducing their sense of community.

"I think it's a good start," said Lisa Santos, a member of the Citizens Coalition for Land Development Code Reform. "But I don't think it's enough to solve the main issue of affordable housing."

What are the proposed short-term rental regulation changes?

Planning and design employees have put forth a list of 12 recommendations meant to tighten and clarify regulations introduced in 2019.

The recommendations include:

  • Amending language around "host" occupancy to "owner" occupancy, which should keep owners in residential areas from avoiding the conditional-use permitting process;

  • Requiring an owner to live at a residence for at least six months before submitting an owner-occupied short-term rental registration application;

  • Increasing the annual registration fee from $100 to a higher, to-be-determined amount;

  • Restricting the maximum occupancy of short-term rentals to 12 adults;

  • And prohibiting a new short-term rental registration on a property if a citation has been issued in the past 12 months for unlawful short-term rental activity.

Related: Your apartment could soon be randomly inspected by a Louisville code officer. Here's why

Community members can make comments on the proposed recommendations through mid-June by filling out a form at louisvilleky.gov/government/planning-design/short-term-rental-regulation-update-2023. They can also call planning manager Joe Haberman at 502-574-6230.

Once the public comment period has closed, the recommendations will go to the city's planning committee for discussion.

How will the moratorium work?

The proposed moratorium would halt new short-term rental registrations and conditional-use permit applications for up to six months while the regulatory changes are debated.

The moratorium would not apply to rentals seeking permits that are already scheduled to go before the Board of Zoning Adjustment. And it would not prevent current rentals from re-registering, as they're required to do annually.

"People are still taking advantage of an ordinance that has loopholes," said Metro Councilman Jecorey Arthur, who initially proposed a moratorium for certain neighborhoods but later expanded it citywide. "The moratorium stops the process so we can fix that."

The moratorium was on Metro Council's agenda at its June 1 meeting but the ordinance was held at the request of its sponsor.

Reach reporter Bailey Loosemore at bloosemore@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4646 or on Twitter @bloosemore.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville weighs Airbnb moratorium while considering new regulations