After a year of work by the Governmental Affairs and other committees the full New Orleans City Council will vote on a slate of new regulations regarding short-term rentals. A lot of expectations are riding on the passage of the new rules.
Resident Activist Amy Stelly says her Treme neighborhood as seen runaway proliferation of Airbnbs leading to unruly guests and worse, "We have had to deal with public urination, which makes me feel there were too many people in the short term rental and the bathrooms backed up!" She supports the mandate that owners live in their homes if they want to rent out rooms.
Stelly also is looking for more oversight on STRs and cooperation from platforms like Airbnb, Homeaway and VRBO, "We need platforms to be accountable and share data, so we can track who's doing what."
But not everybody is on board. Realtor Lesley Gambino says the regulations will kill STRs in New Orleans, "The City Council wants to demonize short term rentals, but they're actually a boom to the city." Gambino says Treme properties were selling briskly at one point, but now have slowed to a crawl.
One major point of contention appears to the 25-percent cap on STRs in commercial developments like apartment buildings and condos. At least two amendments will be presented at Thursday's council meeting. Council member Kristin Gisleson-Palmer is opposed to the changes: "We would run the risk of basically turning over an entire neighborhood as a mini hotel district and I think that is highly unfortunate."
Should the Council not approve the new regulations today, they have to go back to the beginning and start the process all over again.