City reports 24 short-term rentals, plans compliance push and online registration improvements

Havre de Grace — The city’s planning director told the council on Feb. 17 that roughly 24 short-term rentals operate in the city, largely concentrated downtown, and that the planning office will increase outreach and enforcement to improve compliance with registration and safety requirements.

Director Goins said the city contracts with a firm that searches listing websites (Airbnb, VRBO, etc.) to identify properties operating as short-term rentals. That list, Goins said, gives the city confidence that the roughly two dozen units identified in the report represent active operators. The number of registered units, he said, has been steady for the past two years and remains below the ordinance cap of 60.

Goins said complaints about short-term rentals — covering noise, traffic and safety — have been rare during his 11 months in the role. He described steps the planning office is taking to increase compliance: rolling out improved online workflows through the city's permitting system, redesigning the short-term rental webpage to make the application process clearer, and notifying operators of registration requirements and self-certification items such as smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors.

Council members asked whether unregistered listings likely remain and how enforcement would be carried out; Goins described the city’s vendor-supplied listing search and said staff will notify unregistered operators and require a self-safety certification and annual renewal as part of licensing.

No policy changes were adopted at the meeting; staff said additional enforcement and outreach actions will occur in the coming months.