Isle of Palms voters will decide whether the city places a cap on the number of short-term rental licenses it issues.
At a contentious meeting July 11, the IOP Council voted 5-4 to ignore a proposal that would have limited the number of investor-owned STRs on the island to 1,600. The ordinance was presented to the Council along with a petition circulated by a local organization that included 1,173 signatures, 490 more than necessary to force a referendum if the Council failed to take action.
The Council did vote unanimously to forward the petition to the Charleston County Board of Elections for certification, a task that could take three to four weeks to complete, according to Executive Director Isaac Cramer.
Unanimity was nowhere to be found, however, when Council members voiced their differing opinions on which of three options to choose concerning the proposed ordinance. By a 5-4 count that mirrored the Council’s Feb. 28 decision against restrictions on short-term rental licenses, Jimmy Ward, Blair Hahn, Kevin Popson, Rusty Streetman and Mayor Phillip Pounds voted against the ordinance, while Scott Pierce, Jan Anderson, Katie Miars and John Bogosian supported it.
“It’s another example of the do-nothing mentality of the five members of the Council,” said Brian Duffy, president of Preserve IOP Now, the group that collected the petition signatures. “You have to give them credit for being consistent. They do nothing all the time, except when it suites their own interests.”
If the signatures are certified by the Board of Elections by Sept. 8, a referendum on the ordinance could be held when voters go to the polls Nov. 7. Council seats currently held by Streetman, Ward, Popson and Pierce will be on the ballot as well.
At the July 11 meeting, held at the IOP Recreation Center instead of City Hall to accommodate the large crowd, City Attorney Mac McQuillin explained the Council’s options. City officials could pass the ordinance on first reading and at least seven days later on second reading, and it would become law. Or they could take no action – which essentially is what they did – triggering the referendum, which must be held within 30 days to a year. Or they could have amended the ordinance. However, if “substantial” changes were made, the ordinance would be placed on the ballot without those changes. McQuillin pointed out that if the referendum passes, the ordinance proposed by Preserve IOP Now would become law, while if it fails, the ordinance as amended by the Council would prevail.
He added that, just like with any other ordinance, the Council would have the option to amend it after the election.
Both Hahn and Streetman said they supported letting the voters decide the fate of a possible cap on short-term rental licenses, but neither could vote for the proposed ordinance.
“I will support a cap on short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods. However, I cannot support this ordinance,” Hahn said. “This ordinance is a first step to ban short-term rentals island-wide. It is attempting to take away the rights of nonresident property owners.”
“I tried to reach a compromise with those who have promoted an island-wide cap,” he added. “I was told no – all or nothing. If those individuals had agreed to limit the cap to single-family residences, we would not be here. We would already have an ordinance in place and the neighborhoods would be protected.”
Streetman said he isn’t against a cap, “if needed in specific residential areas,” adding that there has been a decline in short-term rentals “over the years.” He noted that condos, town homes and hotel rooms should not count when considering the percentage of short-term rentals on the island because “they were built and designed to be short-term rentals historically.”
“Short-term renters go to shops, restaurants and keep our businesses thriving on the island,” Streetman commented. “The problem is the day-trippers. They are the real issue. They don’t do much at all to support the local economy. In some cases, they leave the litter behind to pick up at our expense.”
Popson said his opposition to short-term rental limits was about “picking winners and losers,” while Pounds noted, “This is too big an item to let 30% of our population decide what’s best for this entire island.”
Bogosian, meanwhile, apparently was of the opinion that 1,173 was a significant number of signatures.
“Thirty percent of our electorate has come forward with a petition asking us to take action,” he said. “In February, this Council decided not to offer any proposed changes but decided by a 5-4 vote to do nothing – to sit there and monitor. We support these people that have come forward. How can you say that’s not enough to act? I just don’t get it.”
Anderson pointed out that the ordinance is “substantially good for the community.”
The proposed ordinance differentiates between short-term rentals that are and are not the legal residence of the owner – those that pay the 4% and those that pay the 6% property tax rate. There would be no cap on the former, while there would be a limit of 1,600 licenses for the latter.
In addition, the ordinance would permit a license to be transferred to a family member, including a spouse, parent, step-parent, sibling, step-sibling, sibling-in-law, child, step-child, grandparent or step-grandparent.
