The Lexington City Council has given final approval to define and regulate short-term rental housing. Authors of the ordinance maintain it’s a middle-ground approach.
The topic of short-term rentals has been discussed and debated at Lexington City Hall for the last few years. The ordinance approved unanimously Tuesday evening includes the establishment of a new special license fee. Council Member James Brown thinks something can be gleaned from the amount of public comment recently.
“The fact that we’ve had so few people show up in the last couple of weeks shows that they may not be completely supportive of the whole policy, but I think they do understand that it’s reaching a middle ground,” said Brown.
During public comment, Amy Clark of the downtown third district asked Council to reconsider its vote. Clark believes housing units being fixed up for short-term rentals could better be used to meet affordable housing needs.
“A home improved for a dozen or more transient guests will scarcely revert to market use, modest use as a family home,” said Clark.
Council Member Liz Sheehan said a resident can rent out one bedroom and live in that unit as a long-term occupant as well. She hopes the licensing will help to determine how many short-term rentals are situated in Lexington. Vice Mayor Dan Wu said quote, “as imperfect as some people might think this legislation is, I think some level of regulation is going to be better than none.” The first-term Councilman said there will be an opportunity to tweak the short-term rental ordinance.
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