It’s been almost exactly three years since the previous City Council blew up a short-term rental ordinance that had been negotiated and vetted in a two-year stakeholder process, and replaced it with a new version, which most of them had never seen before it was introduced – around midnight toward the end of a long summer meeting – and quickly passed on a 5-2 vote with the assurance that this was closer to what HomeAway wanted to see. Neighbors of commercial STRs have been complaining loudly ever since about the city’s inability to enforce any sort of meaningful regulations on these businesses operating in residential areas.
Most of the attention recently has focused on code enforcement of the so-called “bad actors” – the frat parties with inflatable penises next to schools, or the four-bedroom house that “sleeps 27” – but there are other, deeper problems with our bastard STR ordinance that many on the current City Council seem to recognize, and will start to unravel in three separate meetings over the next week.
Natalia Ciolko provides a breakdown of the issue on p.14, but to recap: It appears that Council will get a staff report at their meeting today (Thu., Aug. 13), but will defer all action and discussion to the Planning and Neighborhoods Committee meeting at 4pm Monday, Aug. 17. In theory, that committee – Greg Casar, Pio Renteria, Sheri Gallo, and Kathie Tovo – will provide recommendations for the full Council to consider and act on next Thursday, Aug. 20. At the least, those will include the proposed code amendments Council already asked the city manager to bring to the Aug. 20 meeting, to: add penalties for operating without a license, or with an expired license; require an occupancy limit statement (with a maximum of six adults or less) in all ads and listings; add inspection requirements; revoke the “test the waters” provision which allows property owners to advertise an unlicensed property. Add to that a simple requirement that all listings include a valid city license number, and Council will have gotten back to what would seem to be a minimum threshold: not only require licenses, but provide the means to prohibit unlicensed STRs. But, as noted above, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Notably missing from Gallo’s draft resolution on the topic are:
• most distinctions between Type 1 (owner-occupied) and Type 2 (commercial operations); the original ordinance would have allowed Type 1s almost everywhere, at a nominal fee, but Type 2s have the lobbying clout of Airbnb and HomeAway.
• any mention of Type 3 (multifamily), currently allowed in up to 25% of all units; and
• any clear direction on issuing new permits, i.e., a moratorium on approving new permit applications that might not be approved under the contemplated regulations.
• any note of the argument that, as Type 2 STRs are not a residential use under either state law or common logic, they’re illegal in residential zoning, without a conditional-use permit. And above all:
• any acknowledgment that, as we struggle with housing availability, costs, and supply, commercial STRs are siphoning off a big chunk of desirable units. The website www.insideairbnb.com indicates that 89.7% of Airbnb’s 5,192 Austin listings are available year-round, indicating some 4,657 units that are not available for residents. Some areas are hit harder than others; there are some 1,480 units in the near south 78704 zip code alone, and East Austin’s 78702 isn’t far behind. (Meanwhile, there are 1,125 currently licensed STRs.)
Given the sentiment on the dais, and in the public, those topics will be re-opened over the next weeks. And we may eventually work our way back to something approximating the ordinance that was jettisoned three years ago. But, what needs to happen now, in addition to the commonsense proposals Council is poised to enact next week, is an immediate moratorium on issuing Type 2 licenses on any properties which might not meet the pending regulations. If this Council is serious about any part of “affordability,” that’s an action they’ll take, not on the 20th, or on the 17th, but today. There’s no excuse for losing any more housing stock.
AISD’s 10th annual Back to School Bash Celebration and Safety Fair is Saturday, Aug. 15, 9am-noon at Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd. More than 130 community and district organizations will offer info about programs and services, free immunizations, free backpacks, car seats, eyeglasses, and school supplies on a first-come, first-served basis for AISD students. Free shuttles will run every 30-45 minutes beginning at 7:30am from: Lanier and Reagan High Schools, Bedichek, Covington, Martin, and Mendez middle schools, and Guerrero and Summitt elementaries. More info at www.austinisd.org/bash.
Preservation Austin‘s annual meeting at the Alamo Ritz will feature a talk by Melanie Haupt, author of Historic Austin Restaurants: Capital Cuisine Through the Generations and frequent Chronicle contributor. It’s Tuesday, Aug. 18; doors open at 4pm, program starts at 4:30pm. Free admission and appetizers. Books for sale; cash bar.
Two more things the Austin Public Library does:
• Free Summer Concerts: Gina Chavez plays APL’s Book Your Summer series at 2pm Saturday, Aug. 15, at Little Walnut Creek Branch, 835 W. Rundberg.
• Storytelling in Sound is a new workshop for adults who want to get into podcasting: Learn about audio storytelling, the basics of recording and editing, and what resources are available if you’re on a budget. A hands-on segment will get you started creating your first piece. Saturday, Aug. 15, 2-4pm at the APL’s Hampton Branch at 5125 Convict Hill Rd. Like all library programs, it’s free and open to the public. More info – so much more info – at library.austintexas.gov.
Between city budget hearings, and all the development issues, there’s so much buzz around City Hall, that no one even noticed the latest wild hair from Don Zimmerman, City Council’s crazy uncle who sits in the corner yelling insults but everyone’s gotten used to ignoring him. Uncle Don’s latest outburst is a budget proposal to cut half (or all) of the city’s annual Chapter 380 payments (economic incentive agreements), estimated at $13.7 million for the coming fiscal year. There appears to be eight active 380 agreements – with AthenaHealth, Visa, HID Global, Apple, Advisory Board Company, Hanger Orthopedic Group, Samsung, and the Domain – and Zimmerman points out that all payments to these companies are completely voluntary on the city’s part, and don’t actually buy anything whatsoever at this point. City Economic Development staff counter that, clearly, we’ve made these payments in the past, so should keep doing so. Wow, that Zimmerman. What a nut case. Wait, what?
This article appears in August 14 • 2015.