Council rejects zoning change that would have regulated short‑term rentals after hours of public comment

Warr Acres — After more than two hours of public comment, the Warr Acres City Council on Oct. 21 voted down a proposed amendment that would have defined short‑term residential home sharing as a form of hotel use and allowed it in R‑1 (single‑family) neighborhoods as a use subject to review.

Councilman Fairchild sponsored the change and presented an ordinance to add a “home sharing” definition and to require a review process and business license if the council allowed the use. Fairchild said the intent was to give the city tools to regulate short‑term rentals rather than leave them unaddressed. “I would rather, I think, strategically, regulate them hard than try to ban them outright,” he told the council, and warned that an outright ban could prompt costly litigation: “I’m almost 99% sure if we wanna ban them, we’re gonna get a lawsuit.”

The proposal grew out of a municipal court interpretation and conviction that short‑term rentals could meet the city’s existing hotel definition. The city attorney explained the history: a 2008 zoning change adopted for hotels left language that could encompass short‑term residential rentals, a result the council had not previously considered.

Opposition from across the city was the dominant theme of the public hearing. Twin Lakes Homeowners Association President Maria Mickley told the council the city lacked planning and enforcement capacity and that allowing short‑term rentals could lower property values in a community that is “not a vacation destination.” She asked the council not to rush a decision: “This is a big change and we don’t have the research done or the planning done to even be thinking about this for a vote tonight,” she said.

Former Mayor Pat Willie and other residents raised safety, traffic, parking and emergency‑access concerns. Several speakers described large private parties and repeated disturbances at properties they say are being rented for short‑term stays.

Support for defining and regulating short‑term rentals came from a smaller group who want a predictable licensing and taxation regime rather than an unregulated status quo. Council members discussed a range of regulatory tools — annual licensing, occupancy limits, parking caps, fire and building‑code inspections, and spacing rules that could restrict the number of registered units in proximity — and acknowledged surrounding cities have adopted such measures.

When the council voted on the draft zoning amendment and the related business‑licensing approach, the ordinance did not pass. Some council members said they opposed the specific draft language; others said they wanted more time and a structured task force to produce enforceable regulations and a plan for enforcement resources before any policy change.

Council directed staff to return with more research, and several council members and residents volunteered to join a working group to draft practical options for regulating short‑term rentals or pursuing alternative approaches, including enforcement of current code violations.

Outcome: the proposed zoning amendment to classify home‑sharing as a hotel use and allow it on review in R‑1 zoning failed on council vote; staff was asked to return with additional regulatory options and enforcement plans.