Weekly Regulatory Briefing (45)
The Week’s STR Highlights. Bath Township, OH reviews enforcement after shooting; Columbia, MO improves enforcement; West Hartford, CT handles lawsuit; Bismarck, ND, Imlay City, MI, West Fargo, MD, Nantucket, MA, and Kennebunkport, ME approve ordinance; Utah; Washington; New York. READ MORE.
🏡Top Stories This Week
- Bath Township, OH: An unauthorized party at a Bath Township Airbnb ended in gunfire over the weekend, reigniting concerns about safety at short-term rentals.
- Columbia, MO: Columbia is ramping up short-term rental enforcement after the City Council unanimously approved a $58,000 agreement with Avenu Insights & Analytics to monitor and track compliance.
- West Hartford, CT: A Hartford Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of a West Hartford property owner, allowing three historic homes near Blue Back Square to continue operating as short-term rentals.
🌍 Regional Highlights
- Utah: A new Utah Taxpayers Association report finds that short-term rentals make up just 1.9% of the state’s housing stock and have little impact on affordability.
- Washington: With Seattle and Vancouver set to host World Cup 2026 matches, Washington is bracing for a surge of visitors and short-term rental demand.
- New York: A new bill before New York City Council is reigniting the Airbnb debate by proposing to loosen parts of Local Law 18, the 2022 measure that sharply restricted short-term rentals.
- Kentucky: Airbnb enforcement and tax compliance took center stage at the London–Laurel County Tourist Commission’s Oct. 21 meeting, where officials discussed new measures to ensure hosts and restaurants pay required local taxes.
📜 New Ordinances Approved
- Bismarck, ND: Bismarck officials have formally approved an ordinance defining short-term rentals as stays under 30 days, distinguishing them from long-term rentals for tax and regulatory purposes.
- Imlay City, MI: Imlay City has approved new rules for short-term rentals, capping the number of allowed units at five within residential areas.
- West Fargo, ND: West Fargo is finalizing a new short-term rental ordinance after nearly a year of debate, requiring all properties to be licensed but dropping an earlier proposal that rentals must be an owner’s primary residence.
- Nantucket, MA: Nantucket voters overwhelmingly approved a measure to legalize short-term rentals as a principal use across all residential zones, ending years of heated debate over their status.
- Kennebunkport, ME: Kennebunkport voters have approved new rules for short-term rentals as part of the Nov. 4 election, clarifying how the town will manage and enforce its STR program moving forward.
💬 Catch Up on Discussions
- Talbot County, MD: The Talbot County Council has introduced a bill to tighten restrictions on short-term rentals after months of debate.
- New Orleans, LA: After years of weak oversight, New Orleans is aggressively enforcing its short-term rental laws, targeting thousands of illegal Airbnbs and Vrbo listings.
- Redmond, WA: Redmond officials are preparing to adopt new short-term rental (STR) regulations ahead of next year’s international tournament, aiming to align local rules with state law while adding operational standards.
- Green Bay, WI: Green Bay officials are weighing significant changes to short-term rental rules, with residents invited to share feedback at a Nov. 17 Plan Commission hearing.
- Lansing, MI: Michigan lawmakers are weighing new legislation that would let local communities impose a 3% tax on short-term rentals to help offset tourism-related infrastructure costs.
- San Diego, CA: San Diego is debating a proposed $5,000-per-bedroom annual tax on short-term rentals and vacation homes, aimed at freeing housing for locals and generating up to $135 million annually.
- Princeton, NJ: Princeton councilors continue to weigh how to regulate short-term rentals, debating whether to phase out nonresident operators over 24 months or permanently grandfather existing hosts.
- Simi Valley, CA: Simi Valley residents are urging city leaders to crack down on what they say are dozens of illegal short-term rentals operating across town, pointing to safety issues, noisy parties, and “neighborhood hotels.”
- Newton, MA: Newton officials say enforcement of the city’s short-term rental ordinance remains a major challenge despite new rules passed earlier this year.
- Boston, MA: Boston councilors questioned city enforcement of the short-term rental ordinance on Oct. 30, highlighting challenges with exemptions, platform workarounds, and documentation that ISD must accept.
- Ottawa County, OH: The debate over short-term rental regulation in Ohio is heating up as lawmakers prepare for a public hearing on Senate Bill 104, which would bar municipalities and townships from banning Airbnbs and similar rentals.
- Youngstown, NY: The Village of Youngstown is moving closer to finalizing short-term rental regulations that would restrict STRs to commercially zoned areas and require annual registration.
- St. Clairsville, OH: The City of St. Clairsville is considering whether to establish formal rules for short-term rentals after Planning and Zoning Administrator Tom Murphy raised the issue with council.
- Vail, CO: Vail voters appear to have rejected a 6% excise tax on short-term rentals that would have raised $7.2 million annually for workforce housing.
- Miami, FL: A proposed 57-story tower in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood is stirring controversy for blending luxury condos with hotel-style short-term rentals.
- Homer, AK: Homer officials are taking a closer look at the 2045 Comprehensive Plan after residents pressed for stronger measures on housing and short-term rentals.
🌱 Let’s Explore: Emerging Trends
Across the U.S., cities and states are taking sharper, more defined positions on how to manage short-term rentals. This week’s developments show a mix of enforcement crackdowns, legal pushback, and growing interest in coordinated policy frameworks.
🌇 Cities Double Down on Enforcement and Compliance: Local governments are stepping up efforts to get a clearer picture of short-term rental activity and ensure operators follow the rules. Columbia, Missouri, is investing $58,000 in a data-monitoring contract to track unlicensed rentals, while New Orleans is conducting an aggressive sweep against thousands of illegal listings. In Massachusetts, Boston and Newton officials say enforcement challenges persist despite new rules, underscoring how cities are still refining how to manage the fast-moving STR market.
📒 Legal Challenges Reshape Local Control: Courts are playing a growing role in defining what local governments can—and can’t—do when it comes to regulating short-term rentals. A Hartford Superior Court ruling in favor of a West Hartford property owner allows continued STR operations in historic homes, while a court decision in Preble, New York, struck down a town ban due to procedural flaws.
👨 States Push Toward Consistency Amid Local Tensions: State legislatures are increasingly stepping into the debate, aiming to bring order to a patchwork of local rules. Michigan lawmakers are advancing bills that would allow a 3% tax on STR stays to support infrastructure, while Utah officials say STRs make up less than 2% of the state’s housing stock—fueling arguments that they’re not driving affordability issues. In Kentucky, both local and state leaders are focusing on tax compliance and enforcement, signaling a move toward coordinated oversight.
📅 Future Meetings and Public Hearings/Comments:
- Homer, AK: The council plans a Nov. 7 work session and a second public hearing on Nov. 10 to consider revisions before recommending adoption.
- Kentucky: Executive Director Kim Collier said a new county ordinance to regulate and monitor Airbnbs is expected by late November, alongside a state-level case accusing Airbnb of failing to collect local lodging taxes in smaller Kentucky communities.
- Green Bay, WI: The ordinance is scheduled for Common Council review on Dec. 2 and final adoption on Dec. 16, with new rules to take effect in July 2026 if approved.
- Preble, NY: Short-term rentals are shaping the Nov. 4 election in Preble, N.Y., after a court struck down the town’s ban for procedural errors.
🖱️ Click of the Week: See What Everyone’s Reading
, El Paso Times
El Paso City Council to weigh pushback on GOP shutdown video at El Paso airport
El Paso City Council voted on new ordinances that would formally define and regulate short-term rentals for the first time, following a surge to nearly 2,000 listings citywide and mounting complaints over noise, parties, and safety. The proposed rules come amid concerns about corporate ownership and tax compliance, as officials work with the El Paso Short-Term Rental Alliance to address enforcement and community impacts.
Social Listening 🎧: Podcast
Policy talk doesn’t just happen in the news cycle—it can also live in long-form audio. STRisker’s Podcast Signal turns hours of episodes into actionable insight, indexing transcripts so you can surface key mentions of STRs, ordinances, and local decision-makers in seconds.
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