Cuyler-Brownsville homeowner Vickie Weaver has hosted more than 30 guests from a half dozen countries, many of whom have left glowing reviews of their stay in Savannah on the popular vacation rental site Airbnb.
So it came as some surprise to Weaver when she received a cease-and-desist order from the city two months ago for operating an illegal bed and breakfast in a neighborhood not zoned for any commercial use.
“Nobody complained to me,” said Weaver. “Nobody even knew what I was doing.”
Weaver wasn’t alone in receiving a citation. About 45 cease-and-desist notices were sent out in early December to residents using online vacation rental sites to lease out their spare rooms and houses, according to zoning administrator Geoff Goins.
“We only focused on areas where it wasn’t allowed,” said Goins, whose staff scouted websites Airbnb, VRBO and Homeaway.com.
He said the citywide sweep was prompted by numerous complaints, about 15 by his count, from neighbors of these properties — though not Weaver’s in particular. One man with three different rentals faced a fine of $1,000 per property.
Leveling the playing field
These online rental sites have become increasingly popular among Internet savvy travelers looking for less expensive or more alternative types of lodging.
Couch Surfing is another site that connects travelers to a local bed or couch at no cost. At present count, more than 100 rooms are listed as available on Airbnb for St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
However, hotels and other tourism industry stakeholders say they create an unfair playing field, with many rentals not obtaining a business tax certificate from the city or paying the required 6 percent hotel-motel tax. This bed tax partly goes toward funding the tourism marketing organization Visit Savannah, which in turn promotes the destination and its many accommodations.
In fact, Weaver’s issue is just one part of a much larger conversation happening among the tourism industry, City Hall and the Metro Planning Commission. The question has arisen as how to effectively regulate what has become a booming cottage industry.
As of now, the city is focusing on zoning violations, not the collection of revenue from these rentals. However, a draft text amendment seeks to create clearer parameters for what does and does not count as a short-term rental, as well as what would be required of those running them.
The text of the proposed amendment describes a short-term residential rental as an “accommodation for transient guests where an entire residential dwelling unit is rented for lodging for a period of time not to exceed 30 days.”
At a City Hall meeting Wednesday afternoon with vacation rental owners, city officials and other stakeholders, several people pointed to the unfairness of collecting a tax on those in compliance but not on others.
“We want to level the playing field,” said Michael Owens, president of the Tourism Leadership Council.
Owens said he is not against VRBO or Airbnb. In fact, he said, they are an excellent option. However, those renting rooms are automatically joining the tourism community, according to Owens, and must be subject to the same rules.
“It’s really as simple as, ‘Congratulations, you’re in the tourism industry, now you pay taxes,’” Owens said at the meeting.
Zoning
The current zoning ordinance forbids a person to use their property as a short-term rental unless they already live in a district that allows for bed and breakfasts and inns.
“We’ve drawn the line at purely residential districts, which she’s in,” said Tom Thomson, executive director of the Metropolitan Planning Commission.
Thomson emphasized that Airbnb was not the issue in this case, it was the commercial activity occurring in a residential community.
“The staff’s position is we don’t want these commercial uses to intrude into neighborhoods,” he said. “The idea is to protect the neighborhoods.”
Of the notices sent out, those in the Victorian District, which allows for bed and breakfasts, were able to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals and apply for a variance to allow them to continue operating. About four people applied last month as a result of the notices, according to Thomson, though not all received approval.
Weaver, whose house in a strictly residential area, had to apply to the MPC in order to continue lodging transient guests. Any guest that stays for longer than 30 days is not prohibited under current city code.
Weaver argued before the commission Tuesday that the rentals allowed her to rehabilitate her home, a foreclosure she bought a year ago that had been scavenged.
“Airbnb helped me rehab the home,” she told MPC commissioners. “The area is relatively low income and there are all these beautiful homes that are boarded up. ... I’m trying to contribute to my neighborhood.”
Her appeal was effective, with commissioners voting to postpone a decision on her case until it was studied further.
“We are a ‘hostess’ city,” said commissioner Ben Farmer. “I’m asking to see how we can make this work.”
The board asked Thomson and his staff to consider whether to allow limited instances of multi-use in residential neighborhoods.
Thomson said he and his staff had already been in discussion on the text amendment to the zoning ordinance pertaining to short-term rentals but said Feb. 18, the date of the next meeting, may be too soon to address Weaver’s particular issue.
“It’s complicated because now we have to consider and respond to the board about whether to allow bed and breakfasts under some conditions in a residential district,” said Thomson. “Okay, which residential districts: multi-family ... R4?”
Weaver said she isn’t opposed to putting in more guidelines in the city code for these types of accommodations, including a requirement that the host must live on site.
“There needs to be someone invested in the property on site,” said Weaver, who is no longer advertising her room online.
“Given that I don’t have the money to travel the world — to have the world come and stay with you and share their experiences has been phenomenal,” she said. “Savannah’s got to open its eyes and move into the 21st Century.”