DEPARTMENT: Development Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Michael Shannon, PE, CBO
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
Briefing and discussion of a City Council Request regarding short term rental regulation.
SUMMARY:
A Council Consideration Request (CCR) was sponsored by Councilman Mike Gallagher on January 26, 2017, to review current ordinances and city code procedures for short term rentals (STRs). The CCR requested a review of the following:
1) Research if short term rentals impact property values and neighborhood safety statistics.
* There are some studies that we have found and the results vary.
2) Review how cities have updated municipal codes or ordinances to allow this industry to operate.
* Several Texas cities have some form of STR regulation:
o Austin, New Braunfels, Ft. Worth, Galveston, Houston are a few
3) Review options for registering STR's and permitting options.
4) Research if short term rentals should be required to remit hotel occupancy taxes "HOT"
* "HOT" tax is required by State and City ordinance already
* Finance already collects HOT tax from over 100 STR providers
* The City of San Antonio's Finance Department is working on options like online registration, online payment, and agreements with platforms for tax capture at platform level.
5) Determine policies and procedures to enhance public safety in the short term rental industry.
The concept of renting rooms or homes on a short term basis is not new. However, new online services that facilitate short term rentals have led to a rapid proliferation of home sharing as an alternative to more traditional visitor lodging arrangements in San Antonio. There are different types of short term rentals: (1) hosted sharing, where the primary occupants of a residence remain on-site with guests; (2) un-hosted sharing, where the primary occupants of a residence vacate the unit while it is rented to short-term guests. This trend has initiated debates about whether or not new regulatory or enfor...
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