Planning commission finalizes short-term rental rules, recommends ordinance to city council

Fountain Green City Planning Commission members on a regular meeting recommended a new short-term rental ordinance (proposed Chapter 11) to the City Council after reviewing requirements for owner occupancy, licensing, safety inspections and nuisance controls.

The commission’s draft would limit STRs to owner-occupied dwellings except in the historic business district, require the property owner to reside at the address at least 183 days per year, and require a city-issued business license and a written application package that includes proof of ownership, a floor plan or photos, and a parking plan. Heather (staff member) read the draft provisions aloud during the public hearing and meeting, specifying that “Only 1 designated STR area is allowed per property” and that applicants must provide “a sworn affidavit…stating that the proposed property is the primary residence of the owner, wherein they reside at least 183 days per year.”

The draft sets operational limits and safety checks: STRs would be restricted to one renter at a time, no more than 182 nights per year as an STR, minimum one-night stays, and off-street parking for guests. STR units must pass a building and fire safety inspection; commissioners debated whether inspections should be annual or at initial licensing. Heather and several commissioners said the license is renewed annually and recommended inspections at renewal so the licensee would be inspected each year when renewing the business license.

Commissioners debated emergency response requirements for an owner or designated agent. The draft originally required the licensed owner or designated representative to be reachable “24 hours per day, 360 days per year by telephone” and to be “able to physically respond within 1 hour” when necessary. Commissioners agreed to shorten the physical response requirement; after discussion they directed staff to change the one-hour response to a 30-minute physical-response requirement for urgent situations, and to make the two references consistent.

The package includes nuisance and maintenance standards: owners must remove snow from sidewalks within 24 hours, maintain grounds and required parking, and ensure renters comply with city nuisance rules. The draft requires a visible informational packet inside the dwelling with the STR license, 24/7 contact information, parking map, maximum occupancy, city noise rules, garbage pickup directions and local police and fire contact info. Commissioners discussed and removed a separate prohibition on hot tub use after 10 p.m., concluding existing nuisance ordinance language would cover late-night noise.

The draft also addresses license termination and sale: if the record owner changes and no new STR application is filed, or if the record owner no longer permanently resides at the primary dwelling, the STR license would terminate; staff and commissioners discussed adding a short grace period for transfers or sales and asked staff to propose a specific timeframe.

After clarifying language and consistency edits, the commission voted to recommend Chapter 11 (the STR section) and its associated licensing language to the City Council for adoption.

The commission instructed staff to (a) update inconsistent time references (30 minutes vs. 1 hour), (b) make inspection frequency consistent with annual license renewal, and (c) include the owner‑occupancy affidavit language as part of the license package. Staff said they would return the final draft to Council with those edits.

Why it matters: The ordinance establishes the first comprehensive local standards for short-term rentals in Fountain Green — defining where STRs can operate, who may operate them, public-safety inspection expectations, and how the city will hold operators to nuisance and parking rules.

What’s next: The commission sent the revised Chapter 11 language to the City Council as a recommendation; Council action was not recorded in this meeting.

Provenance: Topic begins where staff read the draft STR section and ends at the recommendation vote (staff read at s=1636.135; final recommendation motion at s=11590.445).