Orange Beach City Council bans short-term residential rentals

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home sharing Airbnb

Orange Beach City Council members have voted to pass an ordinance that will ban short-term rentals in residential areas of the city.

The council met Tuesday evening to discuss and vote on the ordinance. According to WPMI, city leaders made their decision in front of a packed house. In attendance were a number of realtors and homeowners who were interested in the ordinance.

Under the new ordinance, residents are still able to rent out a room or home on sites such as Airbnb or VRBO​ (Vacation Rentals By Owner​)​​, but​ only if it’s for 14 or more days at a time. The new ordinance does not affect condo owners or any properties outside of a residential zone.

Orange Beach now begins the process of creating a new “Vacation Rental” license which will allow homeowners to rent their own properties for 14 days or longer.

Homeowners who already have the current short-term rental license will be grandfathered in but will be required to purchase a new license when their current one expires. Each license will cost around 500 dollars each year.

Officials say they’re passing this ordinance as a safety measure and as a response to complaints from residents of the city; citing criminal activity, noise complaints, trash, and overflow parking.

Some residents believe that the city is just looking for more sales tax revenue from condo rentals, and that this ordinance will prohibit some economic growth for the city.

In 2017, Gulf Shores residents, Orange Beach’s next door neighbors, made $4.9 million and brought 27,700 guests into the coastal town using Airbnb, a short-term vacation rental company.

Orange Beach is not the only Alabama city to make such a ban. In September, Mountain Brook banned all rentals less than 30 days.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Another example of a few well positioned people dictating what you can and cannot do with your private property. If I pay my taxes, its my business if I chose to rent a room or entire house, for a day or a week or a month. This is about ensuring rentals are channeled to hotels and condos. Plus, it keeps weekend rental people from disturbing their property owner neighbors.
    We like your money as long as you stay 2 weeks or more. I can see it now, 2 week rental for same price daily rental was last week….

  2. And why would a yes or no have any effect on the discussion. Could it be that you, John, have some sort of interest in keeping those pesky short term renters out of “your” neighborhood and in the condos where they belong?
    Its usually about following the money.

    • I am a resident of the area, I have been impacted by short term renters in my neighborhood, spring breakers destroying my mailbox. The 14 day rental eliminates “The spring break effect”. The community we live in has a 30day short term rental that was implemented by the POA. All Im trying to say is each community has its own issues that should be dealt with by the local homeowners and I think that is what has happened in this case.

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