Here’s why the neighborhood Airbnb or VRBO is likely going away in Rock Hill

Rock Hill City Council is poised to disallow short-term rentals in residential areas.

The council gave initial approval Monday night to city zoning changes that would only allow property owners using Airbnb, VRBO or similar short-term stay services to do so in commercial areas. A second vote is required but the board is unlikely to change course, given the city initiated the rule change and the council voted unanimously for it.

Council next meets on Nov. 27. An agenda for that meeting hasn’t been posted yet.

If the new rule passes, property owners with approved rental sites in residential areas would have five years before they have to stop operating. New permits in residential areas wouldn’t be allowed.

Should Rock Hill allow Airbnb-style rentals in its neighborhoods? We want your vote

The council decision goes against the city planning commission recommendation to keep the current permit process in place. The planning commission also voted unanimously.

City staff, directed by the city manager to come up with the proposed changes, supports the new rules.

Councilman John Black said communities across the country have been wrestling with how to handle short-term rentals, an issue that isn’t confined to Rock Hill. Black pushed back on arguments the new rules are overreaching because he said changes will create a more streamlined, consistent process for rentals.

Proposed changes in short-term rental rules could upend Rock Hill Airbnb, VRBO plans

Long-time concerns over short-term rentals

The city’s attempts to regulate short-term rentals go back several years.

Council members say they hear from many residents and neighborhoods concerned about noise, safety, traffic or trash. Council members also hear from property owners who say short-term rentals fill an important role by bringing in tourism and sometimes future residents or investors in the city.

Councilman Kevin Sutton said the city hasn’t been able to balance the desires of neighborhoods with those of the short-term rental community.

“We tried to make an attempt as a council to allow something, and make it work,” Sutton said. “We have wasted a lot of money and a lot of staff time trying to come up with something.”

The issue has become contentious at times.

Councilman Jim Reno said people contacted him Monday in support of rule changes, but said they wouldn’t speak out about the issue due to past treatment when they did speak out at planning commission meetings.

Rental owners pushback

Resident Tom Roper’s wife operates an Airbnb in Rock Hill. Roper went down the list of reasons for the new rules proposed by the city, which he said aren’t valid.

Roper said there haven’t been complaints or criminal reports at rentals in the year since the last set of rules began. The maximum number of homes used for short-term rentals at a time — about 50 although the city would allow 150 — isn’t going to hurt housing stock or affordability in a city of more than 75,000 people, he said.

Another concern cited in the proposed city rule is the idea rentals create more transient communities compared to homeowners in neighborhoods.

“This is not an issue of transient occupancy,” Roper said. “These are residences where people are allowed to rent out rooms. You wouldn’t know that these houses are Airbnbs unless they were required to obtain permits to operate.”

Roper said some people want to stay in residential areas to see if they like it before a potential move to Rock Hill. Others want to attend sports tourism events Rock Hill offers, and stay as a family rather than across hotel rooms.

Tom Hutto owns multiple rental properties. Hutto said there aren’t police reports, parties, trash accumulation or parking issues to support moving short-term rentals out of residential areas.

“The 33 permit holders have not had any complaints,” Hutto said. “The only complaints we’ve had is that we exist.”

Hutto said transitioning his properties from short-term to long-term rentals would cost about $1,500 per unit or $252,000 a year.

The coming changes to short-term rentals

Now, the city caps short-term rental permits at 150. Sites can’t be right beside each other. In neighborhoods, a property owner has to get approval from neighbors and sometimes homeowner associations.

The changes would remove neighborhood properties, but also remove that overall cap. Rental use would be allowed based on zoning district, not on whether a neighbor might agree with it, Mayor John Gettys said.

Gettys said it isn’t the city’s job to go property by property to determine who should be allowed something that can change based on a limited amount of permits or “the whims of a neighbor.” It’s better, Gettys said, for the city to focus on what should be allowed and where in a way that’s simpler for property owners and the city.

Removing the cap allows more possibility for short-term rentals, Gettys said, by ensuring no single owner takes up most or all of them. Gettys said the proposed changes take a broader view of short-term rentals and where they should be.