City Councilwoman Carol BerzThe Chattanooga City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on proposed rule changes for operating short-term vacation rentals.
The public hearing will be after the council’s 6 p.m. voting session.
The council postponed a Sept. 13 vote, with members saying some residents have voiced frustrations over new legislation that would use a certification process for approving the use of residential property for short-stay room rentals. Now, anyone wanting to use their home as a short-term vacation rental must have the property designated as R3 or R4 zoned, which also allow apartments and offices.
In a recent meeting, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency Executive Director John Bridger discussed the new procedures with the council. The rules aim to address the realities of a growing “digital economy” driven by internet-based vacation rental booking sites such as Airbnb, he said.
“We don’t want to zone folks out,” Bridger said. “We want to create a way to have a review that we can be sure they’re meeting basic safety, they’re paying taxes and there’s a way for the neighborhoods to kind of express whether they want that use in the community or not.”