Surry County to draft short-term rental ordinance after advisory committee recommendations

Staff briefed the board on the advisory committee’s year-long review of short-term rentals and Summit Consulting presented recommendations drawn from a community survey and review of other Virginia localities. The committee received 104 survey responses and used that input plus statutory parameters to shape recommendations including: a local registry for non-primary-residence short-term rentals, an annual registration fee tied to administrative costs, a county transient occupancy tax collected through platforms, and zoning- and use-based limits on where short-term rentals would be allowed or require a conditional use permit.

Anne Darby of Summit Consulting summarized the legal framework and specific recommendations: “Create the registry. In this, as dictated by state code, operators must register annually. The fee must be, quote, reasonable and related to the cost of maintaining the registry.” Darby emphasized that the Code of Virginia limits what localities can regulate (for example, primary-residence home shares and active farms have specific exceptions) and recommended the board proceed to drafting ordinance language that is legally defensible.

Board members asked about survey distribution and peer counties used for benchmarking; staff said the outreach included an online QR-code survey, postings on the county website, and targeted notices to county alert subscribers. After discussion, a board member moved to direct staff to proceed with drafting ordinance language; the board voted in favor by voice vote.

Next steps: staff will draft ordinance language for planning commission review and return with proposed ordinance text and recommended fee structures, draft transient occupancy tax language, and proposed zoning maps indicating districts where short-term rentals would be permitted by right, by CUP, or not allowed.