Hamilton County commissioners on Wednesday approved a 60-day moratorium on new short-term vacation rentals in unincorporated areas, which officials said will give them time to study the issue and work out kinks in the approval process.
“The reason for the moratorium is to give us time to find out what we’re doing wrong,” Commissioner Gene-o Shipley, R-Soddy Daisy, who brought the issue to commissioners last month, told members of the panel Wednesday. “Right now, we’re handing out permits, but we have no rules. … We’re giving out permits saying it’s OK to operate, but we don’t know what they’re really operating at that point.”
Along with Commissioner Joe Graham, R-Lookout Valley, Shipley is co-chairing a committee that will further evaluate the impact of short-term rentals and how the county can best regulate them.
The moratorium passed 9-2 with Commissioners David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, and Greg Martin, R-Hixson, voting no. The original resolution stated the moratorium would last for six months, but commissioners opted to shorten it to 60 days.
Sharpe said at the onset of the discussion he wanted to be sensitive to the needs of individual property owners who are using short-term rentals to supplement their income. Families have invested a lot of money into these properties, and Sharpe said he didn’t want actions by the commission to have a negative impact on them.
“The intent of this in the beginning was not to ever hurt anyone,” Shipley said. “It was to get everyone on the even playing field.”
Commissioner Steve Highlander, R-Ooltewah, applauded Shipley’s willingness to shorten the moratorium’s time span to 60 days, stating that he likely would have voted against a six-month pause.
The vast majority of the issues, Highlander added later, are with illegal short-term vacation rentals, and the county needs to particularly focus on clamping down on those.
Graham said the committee plans to hold a meeting at 10 a.m. Oct. 27, and if the group finishes its work early, it’s possible the commission could lift the moratorium before that 60-day period is up.
“If we can resolve this in 30 days, 45 (days), I’ll be the first one to bring it up to remove it,” Shipley added.
The commission isn’t attempting to punish owners who are legally operating short-term rentals, Graham said.
“What we’re trying to do is establish a baseline,” Graham said. “The thing that we establish now is just a base. It’s just to get it started so we know where we’ve been and where we’re going and that way, hopefully, we can tweak and tweak and tweak and get it right further down the road.”
Martin stated that it’s unnecessary for the county to pause new applications as it evaluates the issue.
“I think we do need to look at it, and I commend Commissioner Shipley,” he said, “but my reason for voting against it … is I don’t think you have to stop business to have the study.”
Sharpe agreed with Martin’s assessment.
“Never let it be said that a mind on this commission can’t be changed on the dais,” Sharpe said. “Commissioner Martin, you made a very good point. We should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.”
Donna Morgan operates a property management company for short-term rentals called iTrip Chattanooga. She co-owns seven permitted units in the city and will sit on the county’s committee.
Hamilton County doesn’t have as defined of an approval process as the city of Chattanooga, which is needed, Morgan said in a phone call Thursday.
Properties in Hamilton County don’t have to receive inspections to ensure rentals meet safety requirements, she said, which would help protect guests and property owners. There also isn’t an application fee for county rentals, she said.
She appreciates the approach county officials are taking to improve existing issues.
“I was very encouraged that they don’t want a long, drawn-out process,” she said. “I’m really hoping that the committee that has been formed will be able to come back in no more than 60 days.”
Bryan Shults, the director of development services at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency, said in an email last month that there are very limited rules and regulations on short-term vacation rentals in Hamilton County other than applying for a special permit.
Short-term rentals in the county are allowed by special permit in all residential zones except for single-family residential areas, he said. In the multifamily residential zones, the units are permitted by right.
The Regional Planning Commission can permit a short-term rental after a public hearing providing that, among other rules, there’s no signage, the residence isn’t rented for group events like weddings or business meetings and there aren’t more than five sleeping rooms.
The County Commission can revoke a special permit if the property has two documented county or state violations within a 12-month period. Thirty short-term vacation rentals have been permitted in the county since 2009, according to the regional planning agency.
The city of Chattanooga has had a moratorium in place on short-term vacation rentals not occupied by the owner since April. That’s scheduled to end in January.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @flavid_doyd.
Staff Photo / The bedroom of a short-term vacation rental is seen Tuesday, July 9, 2019, in downtown Chattanooga.