Austin City Council will for the second time on August 2nd consider making legal what is currently illegal.
Background: Homes in neighborhoods are currently not allowed to rented out for a period of less than 30 days. Despite it being illegal, doing so has become a big business and growing issue in Austin. There are currently thousands of homes in Austin being used essentially as mini-hotels, being rented out for a day or two at a time. Single family residential zoning is created to protect homeowners from living next door to businesses. North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Association voted last year to pass a resolution against commercial short term rental (non-homesteaded, non-owner occupied home rental for a period of less than 30 days) and in support of homeowners being able to rent out their personal homes that they occupy for short periods of time for a collective total of 30 days per year. This is in line with the position Austin Neighborhoods Council has taken on commercial short-term rentals. You can read the details of the ANC position here: http://www.ancweb.org/issues/STRs/STRs.htm
You can also read an editorial in the Statesman by Councilmembers Tovo and Morrison from this above link.
Last month the city council voted on first reading (first of three readings) to allow commercial short term rentals after hours of citizen testimony on the topic. You can support the NSCNA resolution and opposition to commercial short term rental by writing and calling city council members and by visiting http://www.protectaustinneighborhoods.com. There you can click a link to sign a petition against commercial short term rentals and learn of other ways to support this effort to keep them illegal. Another website of interest is http://StopShortTermRentals.com.
On August 2 the City Council will vote on second and third reading the revised ordinance on short term rental of residential units. The draft agenda lists this as item 129 (the last item) in the session scheduled for 4:00 PM. The agenda also shows that the public hearing is closed.
On November 1, 2011, the North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Association approved a resolution concerning short term rental of residential property. That resolution can viewed at https://www.nscna.org/committees/development/STR-Resolution20111101.pdf
Residents are encouraged to contact council members and express their views about this issue. You can visit the City website at www.austintexas.gov/government . There you can see links to send emails to individual council members, as well as a link to send an email to all council members.
There will be a rally and press conference at City Hall Monday, July 30 at 11:30 AM. Representatives from every neighborhood are needed at the rally, wearing red shirts and with a sign showing the name of the neighborhood.
Residents are asked to attend the city council meeting Thursday afternoon and wear red shirts. Identifying stickers will handed out for people to wear. Let’s join our neighbors across Austin and stand up for the preservation of our neighborhoods and our neighborly way of life.
