Fishers council adopts rental-registration ordinance with 10% cap per subdivision after heated public hearing

Fishers City Council on May 21 adopted an ordinance to create a rental registration and permitting program for long‑term single‑family rentals, including a 10% cap on rentals per subdivision and grandfathering for existing rental units. The council voted in favor on a roll call vote after a 30‑minute public hearing that drew homeowners, realtors, property managers and neighborhood association leaders.

The ordinance, introduced as item 17 on the agenda and discussed extensively by staff and the mayor, establishes a permit process for long‑term single‑family rentals. Mayor Scott Fadness framed the proposal as an effort to preserve homeownership and neighborhood stability, saying, “It’s one thing to build a great city; it’s quite another thing to maintain a great city.”

City staff and the mayor said the city worked on the policy for more than two years to design a streamlined process intended to limit unintended consequences. Jordan Alexander, the mayor’s chief of staff, described two clarifying edits made since the ordinance’s first reading: a requirement that applicants be in compliance with their homeowners association (HOA) covenants, and a clarification of “legacy rental” language so that rentals existing prior to December 30 of this year are grandfathered in and no additional permits will be issued in subdivisions already over the 10% threshold until that total drops…