Raleigh ends legal limbo for Airbnb, other short-term rentals
After years of back and forth debate and rules, short-term rentals like Airbnb are legal again in Raleigh.
“We have been dealing with this issue for five years, perhaps a little longer. During that time no regulations have been in place regarding short-term rentals,” said Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin. “And we have seen the results of that: we have had minimal issues.”
The council voted 7-to-1 Tuesday night to approve the new rules which go into effect in 30 days. Council member David Cox cast the no vote.
“I think we are at a point where we are going to let the genie come out of the bottle,” Cox said. “People haven’t invested in short-term rentals in Raleigh because of a degree of uncertainty about our regulations. By passing this text-change we are going to make it perfectly legal for people to begin running hotels in our neighborhoods.”
Short-term rentals were technically illegal in Raleigh, but city leaders agreed in 2015 to not enforce the ban until rules could be put in place. Despite their legal limbo, websites like AirBNB and VRBO have hundreds of rooms and homes available for rent in the city.
The council was at an impasse until the 2017 council created rules that allowed some short-term rentals but banned most people from renting out their entire homes.
But those rules never got a chance to be enforced.
When a new council was elected in 2019, one of the first things it did was to postpone enforcement and try again.
The new rules require short-term rental owners to have a city permit, ban exterior advertising and special events and prohibit gatherings at the homes. Property owners will have their permits revoked if they receive two violations from the city within 365 consecutive days.
Three people spoke in favor of the rules during Tuesday’s public hearing, including short-term rental owner Rob Bucklin.
“Thank you to the City Council for continuing to keep Raleigh moving forward, not backwards,” he said.
Former City Council member Stef Mendell was the only person who spoke against the rule changes.
“I am speaking on behalf of many Raleigh residents who are opposed to whole houses being used for short-term rentals,” she said. “We are concerned about Raleigh’s housing crisis. And we are also concerned about introducing commercial activity into residentially zoned neighborhoods.”
Raleigh hasn’t seen the same issues other cities have had and if there are new concerns, they should be addressed, said Council member Jonathan Melton.
“I don’t think we should govern from fear,” Melton said. “I don’t think we should create rules to create problems.”
This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 10:41 AM.
