Short-term rental properties offered through online marketplaces such as Airbnb and Vrbo have become popular with travelers wanting an alternative to traditional hotels.
This trend also has captured the attention of many local governments, which have either approved legislation or are studying potential measures to regulate short-term rental properties.
One community that is considering this type of ordinance is the city of Highland Heights in eastern Cuyahoga County.
Highland Heights City Council, at a recent Committee of the Whole meeting, discussed short-term rental properties, a concept in which all or part of residences are leased to visitors for durations as short as one or two days.
Ward 3 Councilman Anthony DeLisio suggested at the meeting in late February that they be limited to renting for 14 days, rather than the 30-day limit which has been commonly adopted in other municipalities that have enacted limits to short-term rentals, The News-Herald’s Frank Mecham reported.
“Thirty days seem like a long time for short-term rentals,” DeLisio said to the committee. “The people who are doing Airbnbs are mostly doing it for the weekend, a long weekend, type of deal, so that’s what honestly came up in my head and I think would be more fitting for what we are trying to accomplish.
“And also, the other point that I had was to make some type of cap on it for the city…,” he added. “I’m in favor of having short-term rentals in the city, especially because of having StoneWater (Golf Club) in our city, but I think it would be good to have some sort of cap of the number of units within a city.”
Highland Heights City Council passed a resolution on Jan. 14 that halted new certificates of occupancy and rental licenses for short-term rentals for six months, because, according to the resolution, “rentals have been identified as a source of increased incidents of crime and occupancy violations in other cities, thereby raising concerns about the impact on public safety and neighborhood quality of life.”
One problem that was brought up during the open discussion was how the city would make sure people were following any new ordinances that were put in place. Many of the units are rented through private services that are not required to notify the local authority of a new rental being offered.
“Honestly I would almost suggest a bi-annual permit,” Building Commissioner Dan Perno said. “So, we check it more than once a year, to that point, it’s more work and I’m not exactly sure how we would police all that and we would need to build a structure around it to work.”
Mayor Chuck Brunello Jr. said that while establishing an ordinance, they will contact homeowners associations in the city to see how many of them allow short-term rentals and get them involved in the discussion.
He added that violators will have to face some sort of consequences if they are found guilty of violating a future ordinance.
The next step, according to the committee, is to gather more information from the community and from other communities to better understand what a short-term rental ordinance in Highland Heights will look like.
In eastern Lake County, two communities that have put short-term rental ordinances on their books within the past two years are Madison Village and Fairport Harbor Village.
Madison Village Council, in August of 2023, approved an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals for residential properties in a specific section of the community.
This measure amended the community’s zoning code to allow short-term rentals as a conditionally permitted use within the R-2 single family residence district, “provided the property is located on an arterial street, and together with other substantive limitations to ensure the location is appropriate for this use,” according to language in the legislation.
Fairport Harbor Village Council, in late January, approved an ordinance which established a list of rules for short-term rental properties. Council also enacted legislation which designated short-term rentals as a conditional use in the village’s zoning code.
The News-Herald encourages Highland Heights government leaders to conduct thorough research, and carefully consider the opinions of residents, to develop a proposed ordinance on short-term rental properties that is well-suited for the community.
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