The city's long awaited overhaul of short-term rental regulations could have hit a snag.
The firm consulting New Orleans on regulations, and pushing for few restrictions and regulations on commercially zoned properties, it turns out performed studies and projects for Airbnb four separate times since 2012, according to The New Orleans Lens.
District C Councilmember Kristin Gisleson-Palmer released a statement saying "It raises questions and concerns about the impartiality of the information provided in the study."
Maxwell Ciardullo with The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center says there's no doubt about it: "We're very concerned the contractor the city hired to recommended these new short term rental rules has produced glowing reports paid for by Airbnb. And that certainly looks like a conflict of interest"
HR&A was hired by the Cantrell administration, according to The Lens, to study mandatory inclusionary zoning in New Orleans, where new housing developments to reserve some units for affordable housing. The HR&A study recommended against such set asides saying they would hurt future development.
"Our hope is council members will vote to keep a cap in commercial areas," Ciardullo says. "And make sure that entire areas are not turned over to a free for all for these short-term rentals."
Ciardullo says the finding, just four days from the crucial vote on the new regulations, should cast doubt on recommendations made by HR&A.