Council reviews zoning-code correction restoring short-term rental primary-residence rule

Oxford City Council held a first reading on an ordinance that repeals and replaces the planning and zoning chapter to correct an inadvertent omission and restore a primary-residence requirement for short-term rentals in specified zoning districts.

Planning staff member Sam said the rewrite restores language that had been accidentally removed during a series of zoning amendments. "There was a section on the short term rentals primary residence requirement, which actually got accidentally taken out," Sam said. The restored code limits short-term lodging so the owner’s primary residence must be the unit used for transient guest lodging in certain suburban zoning districts outside the Mile Square.

Councilors used the first-reading discussion to raise questions about enforceability and other zoning provisions carried in the rewrite, including rules on outdoor vending/display items, fence setbacks, home-occupation visitor limits, and temporary movable basketball goals. Staff said many enforcement actions are complaint-driven and that some provisions are rarely enforced unless they impede public safety or pedestrian travel.

Sam and other staff confirmed that existing short-term rental language limits bookings to no more than one booking per dwelling unit and that multiple-bedroom rentals inside a single owner-occupied dwelling are allowable so long as the unit is the owner’s primary residence. The revised chapter will return for a second reading at the council’s next meeting.