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Council adopts short-term rental rules requiring owners to notify guests to use off-street parking
Summary
Bowling Green adopted amended short-term rental rules that (1) remove bed-and-breakfasts from registration, (2) require a $150 registration fee due at registration, (3) require owners to state available off-street parking and ask guests to use it first, and (4) add recordkeeping and penalty clarifications.
Bowling Green City Council adopted Ordinance 9353 as amended after an extended debate over short-term rental rules.
The ordinance, adopted following multiple motions and amendments, removes a clause that would have applied short-term registration and inspection requirements to bed-and-breakfast inns, makes the $150 annual registration fee due at the time of registration, and aligns terminology so the registration chapter’s definition of a local agent remains effective. Council also added a requirement that owners include the total number of available off-street parking spaces in their guest rules and notify guests that off-street parking should be used before on-street parking. Council members said enforcement would be practical only if owners fail to include the required language or if neighbors lodge complaints.
"The owner would be in violation" if the required notification is missing, said Ms. Dennis during the discussion, describing the amendment as a failure-to-notify enforcement mechanism rather than a ticketable parking offense.
Council member Ms. Elliott moved to add recordkeeping sections and returns modeled on the city’s hotel-motel tax chapter to ensure short-term rental operators keep records of registrations and payments.
The council also clarified penalty language so that an administrative penalty of $500 applies "for a third or subsequent offense," rather than only for a single third offense, and made several numbering and editorial corrections before adopting the ordinance as amended.
The council recorded votes at several amendment stages; the final motion to adopt Ordinance 9353 as amended was approved by roll call.
Next steps: The ordinance takes effect per the city’s codified ordinance procedures; enforcement will rely on complaints and on owners’ written rules distributed to guests.
