A Galveston short-term rental committee meeting on community outreach and draft regulations focused on survey findings, neighborhood complaints and a proposed complaint process as the group prepared recommendations to present to City Council.

The committee reported that as of 10:13 a.m. the city had received 1,020 survey responses about short-term rentals, and members summarized feedback gathered at a recent public forum that included a 13-by-3-foot map of every STR on the island and multiple staffed tables for registration, code compliance and neighborhood concerns. Committee chair Dominique said the results are preliminary but “we had 1,020 surveys submitted,” and members said they will share the final data with City Council when the committee presents its recommendations.

Why it matters: Committee members said the survey and the forum clarified where problems are concentrated and what residents want from regulation: better enforcement, clearer registration and faster resolution for repeat problem properties. That combination will shape the draft ordinance being finalized for the council presentation.

Most important details

- Public commenters included short-term rental operators and neighbors who described both economic benefits and localized nuisance problems. Catherine Galindo, a short-term rental operator, said many local owners “want to be good neighbors” and highlighted accessible units and economic activity for downtown businesses. Owen Logan, a short-term rental operator, urged the committee to rely on data, saying “we're looking at data we're gonna see is a 100 bad apples out of 4,000.”

- The committee previewed STARL, a neighborhood complaint and review process the staff will administer if the ordinance is adopted. City staff described STARL as intended to address repeat, verifiable problems and not as “a dragnet.” Staff said anonymous calls can be considered if subsequently verified by code enforcement or law enforcement.

- Preliminary survey tallies and forum notes showed these recurring issues: parking, overflowing trash/collection failures, neighborhood nuisance calls, and concentrated problem properties that residents and staff said drive most complaints. Committee members said roughly 20 percent of respondents reported problems with nearby STRs in the preliminary summary shown at the meeting.

- Mapping and outreach: Vision Galveston and city GIS staff produced maps and graphics for the forum. Frank Raisin of the city’s GIS department built a large island map the committee said will be displayed to City Council. Committee members described broad outreach: the city and neighborhood associations circulated the online survey and dozens of on-site paper responses were collected at the forum.

Selected quotes

Catherine Galindo, short-term rental operator: “We all want the same thing... there’s a small minority of kind of bad actors that give all STRs bad names.”

Owen Logan, short-term rental operator: “We’re looking at data we’re gonna see is a 100 bad apples out of 4,000.”

Soshi (city staff/legal): “STARL is not meant to... we're not trying to... yank everybody's licenses... it's not a dragnet.”

Christine Bryant, Vision Galveston (summarizing outside advice): “I worked with an economist in Corpus Christi, and he said anything of over 200 responses usually don't get a lot of change.”

Discussion, staff clarifications and outstanding questions

- Parking and private streets: Committee members discussed limits in the draft ordinance that would set parking allowances for STRs. Staff and some members noted private streets and homeowner associations (HOAs) pose a separate set of controls: HOAs retain some authority on private streets built to city standards, so enforcement and remedies may depend on HOA rules as well as the city code.

- Enforcement and responsibility: The draft ordinance and the survey responses differ in how the public perceives enforcement responsibility. Respondents favored STR managers and owners as the primary parties to address guest behavior; a smaller share selected the city marshal's office. Committee members and staff agreed that education is needed about which city offices enforce which issues (code compliance, police for safety threats, city marshal liaison duties).

- Complaint validation and anonymity: Staff said anonymous complaints may be acted on only if validated by code enforcement or law enforcement. The committee emphasized the need for a validation protocol so that owners are not repeatedly penalized based on unverified or malicious complaints.

- ‘Three-strike’ approach and focus on recidivists: Committee members described a proposed progressive approach (often discussed as a three-strike rule for property-specific violations) aimed at removing repeat problem properties rather than penalizing every report. Staff emphasized procedures will be defined after an ordinance is adopted.

Decisions and next steps

- The committee agreed to finalize a presentation of recommendations for City Council and scheduled a final committee review meeting the week before the council workshop. Members were told the council workshop is set for Thursday the 23rd at 9 a.m.; the committee plans a final internal meeting Tuesday the week prior from 2 to 4 p.m. to prepare the presentation. (Committee members said the presentation date/time is the council workshop slot and urged colleagues to attend.)

- Staff will refine the STARL protocol and the registration details, and will return with clarified language about private streets, condo parking plans and the registration system’s ability to allow owners to update 24/7 contact information when they will be unavailable.

What remains unresolved

- The committee has not yet finalized specific parking limits or the final text of the parking section; members said staff and council will see both the committee's and staff's recommendations. Several members asked staff to ensure the council presentation includes the full survey data and the forum findings.

- How enforcement actions should treat multi-property owners or management companies remains a live legal and policy issue; committee members discussed property-specific sanctions rather than blanket actions against management companies, noting possible legal complications.

Context and background

The forum combined city staff, Vision Galveston and neighborhood groups to collect public feedback and to display maps and data about STRs on the island. Staff at registration, code compliance and hotline tables answered questions; city staff and committee members said the goal of the draft ordinance and STARL is to remove repeat bad actors and preserve neighborhood quality while keeping legitimate STR operations that follow the rules.

Ending

Committee members said they will circulate the final survey analysis and the latest draft ordinance language ahead of the internal review meeting and the council workshop. The presentation and the finalized materials will be shared with City Council and posted as public records once staff completes the final compilation.