Short-Term Rentals: Daily Notes | September 22, 2026

CHATHAM COUNTY, GA

A license will be required to rent, operate or even advertise a short-term rental in unincorporated Chatham County if commissioners adopt ordinance amendments at a public hearing and vote on Friday, September 25, 2026. A listing on Airbnb or VRBO would count as prima facie evidence of rental use while hotels, motels, inns and standard apartments stay exempt.

Chatham County, Georgia | News - First Reading Chatham County Short Term Rental Ordinance: Opportunities for Improvement

Chatham County LogoChatham County

The vote follows an 8-1 moratorium on new licenses in July 2026 that runs through November 7, 2026 and a tabled May 22, 2026 amendment that would keep licenses 500 feet apart and limit extra occupants between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Chairman Chester Ellis has said the county wants to get the rules right the first time.

NEW LONDON, CT

A fresh attempt to regulate short-term rentals is back on the table in New London as city officials prepare to revisit the discussion with a new state law in hand. The city last took up the issue in 2019 when residents brought complaints to City Council and an October 2019 ordinance banning vehicles and trailers from parking on lawns went to committee without a vote.

Mayor Michael Passero said at the time that regulation was a complicated legal issue and that enforcement was the biggest hurdle while planning director Felix Reyes expected the city to prioritize rentals in 2020. No ordinance followed so the renewed talks start from scratch for the city's hosts and their neighbors.

SHAFTSBURY, VT

A $150 annual fee due March 1 plus an on-call owner or manager, guest noise compliance and off-road parking form the core of a draft short-term rental bylaw that Shaftsbury's Planning Commission takes up again on September 23, 2026 after a September 9, 2026 public hearing. The draft would open rentals to every zoning district instead of rural areas only and the Selectboard must hold two hearings before voting.

Owners including Art Whitman objected to the fee so commissioners floated $50 or $25 while Chair Tim Scoggins said the town does not want to limit anyone's income. Neighboring North Bennington adopted its ordinance in November 2025 and added an enforcement policy this month with a $100 fee due July 1.

KEWEENAW COUNTY, MI

A countywide annual permit for short-term rentals with administrative and operational standards goes to a Planning Commission public hearing on October 5, 2026 at the Keweenaw County Courthouse. The text amendment to the county zoning ordinance comes with a staff report available at the clerk's office and would bring every township under one permit regime.

The proposal arrives as the county wrestles with a structural budget shortfall with residents at a recent Mohawk community meeting being pressed for stiff licensing fees and density caps to raise revenue and protect housing. Non-resident owners have pushed back against more oversight so the October 5 hearing will test both sides.

BUENA VISTA, CO

Another short-term rental ordinance goes before Buena Vista trustees alongside a lease for the Boys and Girls Club only weeks after the board adopted Ordinance 14, Series 2026 on a 3-2 vote on August 25, 2026. That rewrite replaced townwide license categories with district caps on non-primary residence rentals of 1% in R-1 zones and 3% in R-1.5 through R-3 while mixed-use districts get 7% and 11%.

Homes with a full-time onsite representative stay exempt and existing licenses in good standing keep renewing even where a district sits above its cap. The emergency moratorium on new license applications under Ordinance 1, Series 2026 runs through September 30, 2026 so the follow-up ordinance lands as that pause nears its end.

PARADISE TOWNSHIP, PA

A yearly permit backed by smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, posted exit routes, a 24-hour local contact and zoning officer inspections is coming for short-term rentals in Paradise Township after supervisors voted 4-0 on September 15, 2026 to advertise a zoning amendment. Single-unit dwellings in the agricultural, open space, village mixed-use and railroad heritage districts would qualify by right while residential and rural residential zones require a special exception and the commercial-industrial district bars rentals outright.

Every such rental currently needs zoning hearing board approval as a use not provided for so the change clears a simpler path for hosts. Vice Chair Jason Myer was absent and the board next meets on October 20, 2026 with the fee and effective date not yet disclosed.

EAST LYME, CT

New short-term rental regulations in East Lyme are being branded unworkable and a de facto ban by local opponents as the town moves to regulate new rentals for the first time. Rentals have operated by default since the Connecticut Supreme Court's 5-2 Wihbey ruling on July 29, 2024 held that zoning silence on rental duration permits them.

The rules grow out of an Ad Hoc Short-Term Rental Committee that selectmen created on August 2, 2023 and that delivered its final report on April 2, 2025 after three public hearings. That report floated a permit cap, district limits, one permit per owner or a primary-residence requirement along with safety inspections, on-site parking and occupancy tied to bedroom count.

FOLLY BEACH, SC

The fight over Folly Beach's 800-license cap could land before the South Carolina Supreme Court after plaintiffs Elizabeth Spratt Cooper and Park Lane Partners asked the Court of Appeals on September 18, 2026 to transfer the city's appeal because the case turns on a referendum. Circuit Judge Thomas Rode ruled on August 14, 2026 that parts of the 2023 limits were invalid and that the registration fee was an illegal tax.

The city appealed on August 21, 2026 and faces a September 3, 2026 class action seeking refunds of fees that brought in about $1.5 million in 2025 alone. City Administrator Aaron Pope said council would get legal advice and vote on a transfer resolution at a special meeting on September 22, 2026.

MESA COUNTY, CO

A 32-guest short-term rental at 123 Mesa Vista Road keeps its approval after Mesa County commissioners rejected a neighbor's appeal on September 15, 2026 and found staff did not err in signing off on the two-unit property with seven bedrooms and 17 beds. Appellant Nicole Parentice argued the county ignored its own occupancy worksheet and that a bed count has no limiting principle because capacity can be bought at a mattress store.

Senior Planner Britt Dveris said the county has long set occupancy at about two guests per bed which is how the total reached 32. Commissioner Cody Davis called the current landscape the wild west for short-term rentals and said he hopes the ongoing land use code update finally takes them on.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN

One person was struck by gunfire and is expected to recover after a shooting at about 4:38 a.m. on September 20, 2026 in the 1000 block of Harrison Street on the near east side where officers reported prior problems with parties at nearby short-term rentals. Arriving officers found multiple shell casings in the street and saw several people running through yards before setting a perimeter and locating the victim inside a nearby home.

Residents fearful after shooting injures 17-year-old at downtown short-term rental

A 17-year-old boy was stable after a shooting at a downtown short-term rental early Sunday morning, according to Indianapolis police, medics and neighbors. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were sent at 4:22 a.m. Sunday to the short-term rental home in the Fletcher’s addition in the 1000 block of Harrison Street. That’s a few […]

WISH-TVJames Kelly

IMPD Investigates Shooting at Short-Term Rental

One person is recovering after being struck by gunfire early Sunday morning on the near east side.

WIBC 93.1 FMRenuka Kadakia

City records show at least three registered short-term rentals between the 900 and 1000 blocks of Harrison Street run by different owners. IMPD aggravated assault detectives are working to identify everyone involved and no arrests had been announced as of Sunday afternoon.

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Short-Term Rentals: Daily Notes | September 16, 2026

Cities address STRs. Chincoteague, VA sets two-night minimum; Folly Beach, SC revives cap without fee; Kalispell, MT rejects ward-by-ward caps; Opelika, AL weighs 1.5% license tax; Geneva, NY closes three-unit exemption; Kauai County, HI. READ MORE.

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