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Residents urge city action on unlicensed short-term rentals, say enforcement understaffed
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Summary
Speakers at the July 23 Lake Havasu City Council meeting urged stronger enforcement of short-term rental rules, saying listings on VRBO and Airbnb far outnumber the city's short-term rental licenses and that one code officer cannot keep up.
Several Lake Havasu City residents told the City Council on July 23 that unlicensed short-term rentals are creating persistent noise, trespass and sleep-disruption problems in residential neighborhoods and that city enforcement resources are insufficient.
In public comment, Susan Stocker, a local business owner, said the city has 5,386 business licenses to date but only 266 short-term rental licenses and that third-party platforms list many more properties. "Right now, as of today, VRBO has 592 vacation rentals listed in Lake Havasu. Airbnb has 285 rentals listed," Stocker said. "With only 266 licenses being issued, how can one code enforcement officer for the city keep up with 611 unregistered vacation rentals?"
Stocker said repeated calls to police and code enforcement, letters to property owners and other efforts had not resolved ongoing disturbances. Her neighbor, Mark Wilkins, said he spent about $10,000 building a 6-foot wall because of noise and repeated unwanted entry during large parties at a nearby rental. "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 state legislature recently passed new authority that gives the city stronger enforcement tools, and that city staff are working to address the problem. "We have had the ordinance for a couple years... without the legislature passing and the governor signing the law, it didn't have as much teeth; now it does, and we're working to fix that problem," Lane said.
The commenters asked the council to consider adding enforcement staff or other measures to bring unlicensed rentals into compliance. The council did not take formal action during the meeting; these remarks were delivered during the call to the public.
Speakers urged clearer contact and enforcement procedures for residents to report problematic rentals; they also requested faster follow-up from code enforcement and police during overnight disturbances. City staff and the council did not detail a specific staffing or timing commitment during the meeting.
