Resident Matthew Christieson told the University Heights City Council Housing Committee that loud parties at a nearby short-term rental put his family’s safety at risk and prompted three police calls over a single weekend. "Our son has a severe form of epilepsy and is maxed out on medication. If he's startled awake at night, he has seizures," Christieson said, describing two nights of disturbances and what he said was a crowd of "at least 80 people" during the second night at the property.

The committee reviewed the city’s short-term rental ordinance, passed June 17, 2024, and discussed enforcement options, staffing needs and gaps in registration. Bryan Bridal, the city’s law director, said he compared University Heights’ ordinance with Cleveland’s pending proposal and noted a key difference: Cleveland’s draft sets a 15% density cap per block and for apartment/condominium buildings. Bridal said the Cleveland measure is otherwise "very similar to our ordinance" and warned that litigation is ongoing in several states over blanket bans on short-term rentals.

The discussion centered on what the city can and cannot enforce now and what additional steps the administration and council might take. Councilman Christopher Cooney cited section 6-48-17(b) of the city code, saying it provides that "the chief of police or his or her designee upon finding two or more nuisance activities declared in the section within a 12-month period shall cause a written notice to be served to the owner of the property," and noted the code also allows assessing the cost of police responses to property owners. Markelle Davis, the city’s housing and community development director, confirmed neighbors can contact housing to check whether a property is registered and said the department has opened court cases against problem properties.

Committee members and residents said enforcement is limited by staffing. Several council members and Davis said full implementation of the registration and inspection pieces of the ordinance requires a housing coordinator position and more staff training; the committee discussed a pending salary-band approval for that coordinator as part of getting the program running. Davis and others also urged residents to call the police during noisy or dangerous incidents because the housing department is not staffed on weekend nights and the police report provides documentation that can be used for subsequent administrative or court action.

Residents and committee members questioned whether the city should pursue additional limits such as a numerical cap or a minimum-stay requirement (Bay Village’s 29-day minimum was cited as an example). Bridal and others cautioned that some jurisdictions that enacted total bans have faced lawsuits and that state legislation (Ohio Senate Bill 104, described in committee testimony as pending in the legislature) could curtail local authority and set limits such as an application fee cap of $50 if enacted in its current form.

No new ordinance language was adopted during the meeting. Committee members asked city staff and the police to follow up on the specific incident at 3746 Silsbee, and several council members emphasized using existing nuisance, noise and short-term rental code sections to pursue violations. The committee did not take a formal vote on modifying the short-term rental law; it approved a procedural motion at the meeting to reorder the agenda and later adjourned.

The committee and administration said next steps would include housing department follow-up on registration status for properties flagged by neighbors, police documentation of the recent calls, and further committee discussion about staffing and possible ordinance revisions to address caps, taxation reporting and enforcement mechanisms.