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City staff lays out short‑term rental ordinance draft; council raises zoning, enforcement and grandfathering concerns
Summary
City staff presented a draft short‑term rental ordinance that would limit short‑term rentals to commercial, large multifamily and town‑center zones, require on‑site paved parking (max four vehicles), a local 60‑minute contact, recordkeeping and revocation after three violations; council discussed including TOD zones and warned of legal risk for non‑grandfathering.
City staff presented a near‑final short‑term rental ordinance at the Aug. 25 North Richland Hills City Council work session and outlined zoning limits, neighborhood protections and enforcement tools.
The staff presentation, led by Corey (city staff member), reviewed the project timeline beginning May 27, a July 15 town hall and subsequent public input. Corey said staff had selected Deckard Technologies to monitor short‑term rental listings, provide location data to code enforcement and police, host a bilingual 24‑hour hotline and offer an owner portal for hotel‑occupancy tax payments. “We did select Deckard Technologies as a short term rental software that we'll be utilizing in the city,” Corey said.
Why it matters: the draft separates regulation from zoning. Staff recommended prohibiting short‑term rentals in traditional single‑family neighborhoods while allowing them in commercial districts, town‑center subzones and multifamily complexes of at least 50 units (capped at 5 percent of units). That approach is intended to address neighborhood impacts while preserving opportunities in mixed‑use and commercial areas.
Key proposals and details: the draft ordinance would require short‑term rentals to: have on‑site paved parking only (no on‑street parking) with a maximum of four vehicles; maintain a local point of contact able to respond within 60 minutes; keep records for hotel‑occupancy tax reconciliation; post an informational bulletin inside the unit; and observe an occupancy limit of two persons per bedroom plus one. Corey said the city will treat bedroom definitions according to the International Building Code and allow permit revocation after three violations (not necessarily the same violation), with a one‑year ineligibility to reapply after revocation.
Council questions focused on enforcement and monitoring. Council members asked how the Deckard system flags listings and booking nights, whether the payment portal charges processing fees (staff said operators can pay by check to avoid card fees), and how officers can distinguish a short‑term rental event from a private party. Corey said the software shows when a property is listed and when it is taken offline and that staff would check registration status before treating a complaint as short‑term‑rental related.
Legal and practical concerns: City Attorney Bradley described the notification and appeal process for revocations — immediate notice, certified mail, and an appeal to the Board of Adjustment within the stated period — and cautioned that refusing to grandfather existing nonconforming operations could prompt protracted litigation (he cited Grapevine as an example). Bradley recommended providing a registration window and compliance pathway for existing operators to avoid costly court fights.
Transit‑oriented development (TOD) zones: staff did not include TOD zones in the initial notice because they are mixed‑use and harder to parse between residential and multifamily components. Several council members said they were open to exploring TOD inclusion via a secondary ordinance and an additional public notice, while others urged caution given the volume of residents affected.
Next steps: staff said public hearings are scheduled (Planning & Zoning and City Council) for Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 for the initial ordinance; adding TOD areas would require a separate notice and could be considered as a secondary ordinance. The council directed staff to continue public outreach and indicated further executive‑session discussion on legal risk.
