Council updates short-term rental code to allow lessees to operate rentals following state law
Loading...
Summary
The council approved PCR 24-024 to align Williamsburg’s short-term rental ordinance with HB 1461, permitting lessees and sublessees to operate short-term rentals subject to existing local requirements (Board of Zoning Appeals special exception, liability insurance, management plan, parking, lodging taxes).
Williamsburg City Council on Oct. 10, 2024 approved PCR 24-024 to amend local regulation so lessees and sublessees can operate short-term rentals, reflecting changes enacted by Virginia’s General Assembly (HB 1461). Planning staff (Miss Griffin) explained the city’s 2019 ordinance remains intact but must now allow renters to be approved as operators; approvals continue to be handled through a special-exception process by the Board of Zoning Appeals and are limited to owner-occupied, single-family detached homes in residential districts.
Staff described the required application elements that remain in force: written permission from the property owner, liability insurance, a property-management plan and a business license; short-term rentals also remain subject to lodging taxes. Council and staff discussed operational details, including that an approval is personal to the approved lessee and does not automatically transfer if the lessee moves out.
Robert Wilson, a resident, asked for a concrete example of how a lessee-sublease operator arrangement would work; staff and council reiterated that owner consent is required and that existing regulations would continue to apply. Council members noted that as a Dillon Rule locality they must follow state law and that the ordinance updates are intended only to bring local code into alignment. The motion to approve passed unanimously.
