Bulletin - Hudson, OH News Today
Council voted 5-2 on September 15 to push Ordinance 26-78 to November 10 after a neighbor survey around the city's 19 permitted rentals produced only eight complaints, marking the second postponement since June.
Hudson Delays Short-Term Rental Vote Again as Council Weighs 3% Tax, Higher Permit Fee and District Caps
Council voted 5-2 on September 15 to push Ordinance 26-78 to November 10 after a neighbor survey around the city's 19 permitted rentals produced only eight complaints, marking the second postponement since June.
Photo by Michael Bartlett on Unsplash
Short-term rental hosts in Hudson will wait until November 10 to learn whether the city rewrites its rulebook after Hudson City Council voted 5-2 on September 15 to postpone Ordinance 26-78 for a second time.
The ordinance would rewrite Chapter 876, the section of city code that has governed short-term rentals since 2021. The version under discussion would layer a 3% lodging tax and a higher permit fee on top of new caps per zoning district and a minimum distance between rentals, a package that only Kyle Brezovec and Skylar Sutton were prepared to settle that night.
Exhibit A, Proposed Amendments to Hudson Chapter 876: Short-Term Rental Operations
Proposed changes to Hudson’s short-term rental rules add annual fire inspections, public notice requirements, a short-term rental tax and other revisions to permitting, operations and enforcement.
What is actually in the draft
The Exhibit A text posted with the ordinance is narrower than the headline figures suggest. Its main addition is a new Section 876.12 setting a Short-Term Rental Tax of 3% of the listing price including fees on reservations of 29 nights or fewer which is the ceiling Ohio allows municipalities under ORC 5739.08. Beyond that, the draft requires hosts to display the permit inside the dwelling.
The bigger changes reported locally trace back to a May 26 staff memo that recommended raising the permit fee from $100 to $500 alongside a cap of six rentals per ward, mandatory noise detectors and an annual report to council. All of that would replace a current code that charges $10, waives the first application fee once per dwelling and levies no tax.
Caps and spacing are still on the drawing board
The caps and buffer distances in local coverage come from a September 1 memo by Community Development Director Greg Hannan rather than from ordinance text. Staff wrote that they would explore caps by zoning district instead of by ward since 14 of Hudson's 19 permitted rentals sit in Districts 3 and 4.
They also floated a 1,000-foot separation from existing rentals after finding a 500-foot buffer would still allow concentrated sites. Existing rentals could stay but a sale or permit lapse would end that grandfathered status while a sunset provision could follow if attrition proved too slow.
The survey that stalled the vote
The city mailed a survey to 158 property owners within 100 feet of a permitted rental and received 46 responses. Half reported minor negative impacts such as noise, parking and property upkeep, 72% saw no positive impact, and only eight had ever contacted the city about a problem.
According to reports, Council President Michael Bird questioned whether a 29% response rate supported new restrictions while Samantha D'Eramo described the opposition as rooted in fear of potential problems rather than documented ones. Council had already postponed the measure 6-1 on June 2 with Sutton dissenting then too.
How Hudson compares
A peer comparison chart prepared for council shows Akron, Cleveland, Peninsula and Twinsburg all collecting a 3% tax with Akron charging $250 per permit and Peninsula requiring 600 feet between rentals in its R-1 district. Until council acts, current rules for Airbnb and other listings in Hudson stand.
⦾ Status: Proposed amendments to Chapter 876; final vote postponed to November 10, 2026
⦾ Permit: Required now under existing code, $100 processing fee (first application waived once per dwelling); increase to $500 recommended by staff, while the posted Exhibit A shows a $150 figure
⦾ Tax: Proposed 3% Short-Term Rental Tax on stays of 29 nights or fewer; no tax today
⦾ Caps and spacing: Per-district caps and a 1,000-foot separation under staff study, not yet in ordinance text
⦾ Existing operators: Grandfathering proposed, lost on property transfer or permit lapse
⦾ Host requirement: Must be owner or permanent occupant; 24/7 local contact within 10 miles; occupancy capped at two per bedroom plus three
⦾ Penalty for non-compliance: Operating without a permit is a third-degree misdemeanor (up to $500); repeat offenses first-degree (up to $1,000)
⦾ Platform responsibility: None specified
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