Mary Point residents press Newport News council to enforce short-term rental rules after violent January incident

Residents of the Mary Point neighborhood urged Newport News City Council on June 10, 2025, to enforce the city's short-term rental rules after repeated complaints and a violent incident earlier this year.

At the regular session, Anthony Starkey told council that his neighborhood has long-standing problems with short-term rental properties that “violate the terms that they're supposed to operate under” and that repeated reports to the city have not produced visible results. Linda Kenwood, a Mary Point homeowner, said she learned only recently that short-term rentals were permitted in the city and asked council to strengthen compliance and communications after a January shooting in the neighborhood that she said “could easily have occurred.”

The residents’ testimony focused on safety, nuisance behavior and perceived gaps in…