Short Term Rentals
At their August workshop, the Isle of Palms City Council decided that a Planning Commission proposal to allow property owners to rent one room in their home while they are onsite would not be appropriate for IOP. However, after hearing about the reasoning behind that proposition and two others, Council members had somewhat of a change of heart.
Following an hour-long session with the Planning Commission prior to the Council’s Sept. 26 meeting, the Council decided to have city staff prepare possible changes to the zoning ordinance that would permit homeowners to rent one room and limit the occupancy of short-term rentals. A proposal to require a minimum stay of two nights received little support from the Council.
A fourth proposal – to require listings for short-term rentals to include the owner’s license number – would be an administrative issue that would not need to be codified with a city ordinance.
The possibility of doing away with one-night stays for short-term rentals died after Council members determined that large parties are not really an issue on the Isle of Palms. Jan Anderson suggested that the Council might be over regulating, and Rusty Streetman agreed.
“How much of a problem do we have with one-night blowout parties?” Streetman asked. “If we’re not careful, we tend to overregulate.”
Blair Hahn had similar opinion: “If large parties are the issue, let’s fix the issue. Let’s not go with a huge hammer if it’s not that big of a nail.”
Planning Commission Member Sandy Stone agreed that it doesn’t make sense for homeowners or property managers to rent for a single night.
The Council eventually will consider a proposal to limit the occupancy of newly-constructed homes or homes with a rental license that has lapsed for more than a year to either eight or 12 people, not including children under the age of 2. Properties that had a business license in 2010 can rent to the number of occupants allowed in 2010, even if the home that was on the property 23 years ago was razed and rebuilt. At the Aug. 8 workshop, Director of Building, Planning and Zoning Douglas Kerr noted that between 50 and 100 properties were grandfathered in at that limit.
Stone pointed out that “some trigger needs to bring all the shortterm rentals down to 12.”
Kerr pointed out to Council members that the proposal to allow property owners to rent out a room in their home would apply only to exempted properties – those that are taxed at the 4% rate. As such, the outcome of the upcoming referendum will have no effect on this proposal. Voters will determine Nov. 7 whether the city puts a cap of 1,600 on short-term rental licenses for investor-owned properties.
