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Residents urge stronger enforcement of short-term rental rules as council cites new state law
Summary
Residents told the Lake Havasu City Council that unlicensed short-term rentals are causing noise and safety problems. Council leaders said a recent state law gives the city stronger tools and staff are working to address enforcement gaps.
Susan Stocker, a local business owner, told the Lake Havasu City Council on July 23 that the city’s enforcement of short-term rental rules is inadequate and that some properties are operating without licenses.
"I do run a couple of businesses here in town. I come before you tonight to speak about the lack of code enforcement on vacation rentals," Stocker said, describing repeated complaints to city offices and police about a property behind her home.
Stocker and another resident, Mark Wilkins, said large parties, late-night noise and trespassing have continued at an unlicensed rental for more than two years despite repeated calls to police and letters to property owners. Wilkins said the city maintains a public listing of vacation rental contacts that appears not to be enforced.
"Had we known that the property behind us was a lower budget rental place that catered to spring breakers, I may not have bought that property," Wilkins said.
Vice Mayor David Lane responded during the meeting that the city is pursuing stronger enforcement after state lawmakers and the governor recently approved changes to state law. "The state legislature just recently in this last session passed a new law ... and Governor Ducey signing the law, it didn't have as much teeth, now it does, and we're working to fix that problem," Lane said.
Clarifying details offered at the meeting included counts of listings on commercial platforms and the city's licensing totals. Stocker said VRBO listed 592 Lake Havasu properties and Airbnb listed 285; she said the city had issued about 266 short-term rental licenses out of 5,386 total business registrations. Council did not record a formal action on the item during the meeting; the concerns were raised during the call to the public.
The exchange was part of the public comment segment of the July 23 council meeting; no ordinance or fee change was introduced at that time, and staff presented the city’s next steps as ongoing enforcement work tied to the recent state law changes.
