Planning commission recommends short‑term rental ordinance changes, asks Board to consider 300‑license cap

The Rockdale County Planning Commission on Jan. 8 recommended amendments to the county's short‑term rental ordinance and asked the Board of Commissioners to consider a 300‑license cap.

Jessica Poblec, project manager with Planning and Development, said the amendments (Text 2025‑14) change the county's approach from a special‑use permit toward a licensing model intended to shorten processing time. Under the proposal the county would issue short‑term rental licenses (rather than individual special‑use permits), limit stays to less than 30 days, prohibit special events or private gatherings at licensed short‑term rentals, require operators to maintain guest records and make them available to the county on request, and make licenses nontransferable.

Poblec said staff originally proposed a cap of 350 active short‑term rental licenses based on comparisons with neighboring jurisdictions and an internal scraping pilot that showed about 200 listings; the Board of Commissioners had asked staff to consider reducing that cap to 200. “We did take this for a first read with the Board of Commissioners, and they would like to reduce the 350 to 200,” Poblec said. She told the commission that applications would begin Feb. 1 and that the county would run a letter campaign and use market‑scraping software to identify existing listings.

Commissioners pressed staff on how the cap numbers were derived, how a wait list would work and whether the licensing approach would create enforcement or fairness issues. Poblec said enforcement would involve code enforcement and the sheriff's office, that tax assessors would be notified to ensure proper commercial tax treatment, and that the SOP would establish details such as renewal windows and rules for lapsed licenses.

Members of the public urged the commission to set a cap tied to accurate registration data. Bridget Williams told the commission that setting a reasonable cap would prompt noncompliant operators to come forward and register. Rolandeep Sekul, who identified a local address, suggested using a multiplier to allow margin for errors in initial lists and recommended a process to recognize operators who can show they were operating prior to the notice campaign.

After debate the commission voted to approve the text amendment and to forward it to the Board of Commissioners with a recommendation that the board consider a cap of 300 active licenses. The motion passed by voice vote; the transcript records at least one commissioner saying "nay" during the vote. Poblec said the Board of Commissioners would consider the item again on second read on Jan. 27; staff planned to begin accepting applications Feb. 1 and to send multiple letters to identified operators as part of the rollout.

Next steps: the planning commission's recommendation will be transmitted to the Board of Commissioners for public hearings and final adoption. The county intends to begin a registration campaign and accept applications after the Board's action and after SOP details are finalized.