The New Orleans City Council Thursday approved new rules for short term rentals like Air BnB. The council voted unanimously to limit short term rental permits in residential areas to owner-occupied properties where there is a homestead exemption.
"This is a really good viable way for folks to be able to afford to stay in their homes, or people will be able to have a better quality of life in their homes," New Orleans City Council member Kristin Gisleson Palmer said.
Short term rentals get the blame for pushing lower income residents out of neighborhoods there families have lived in for generations. Palmer acknowledged as one of the major points against it.
"We're at the crux of losing the culture of Treme...so now we have musicians and artists and workers that can't even live in these communities that really are the backbone of the city," she said.
There will be more votes to come in the coming months before the new rules go into effect.
The council also banned short term rentals in the French Quarter and areas of the Garden District.