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Houston City Council is still mulling over a proposed short-term rental ordinance.
Under the proposed ordinance, it would be illegal for someone to operate a short-term rental without a valid registration certificate from the City of Houston. The annual registration fee for short-term rentals would be $275 as determined by a cost study from the City’s Finance Department.
A short-term rental is defined as a home or part of a house that is rented out for no more than 30 days. Hotels, bed and breakfasts, or group homes are not included in this ordinance.
During council's meeting on Wednesday, council member Julian Ramirez introduced multiple amendments to tag to the ordinance. Council members Sallie Alcorn and Abbie Kamin offered them jointly. The agenda for the Quality of Life Committee will expand to include a discussion on these table amendments.
If the STR ordinance is approved, the city will enforce several regulations for short-term rentals, including:
Noise and sound control, building and neighborhood protection, waste and litter management, fire safety compliance, Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) payment, listing and notification requirements, and emergency contact information.
Short-term rentals will also not be allowed to advertise as event spaces.
Registration certificates can be revoked for the following reasons under the ordinance:
Conviction of a serious crime, multiple violations of the sound ordinance, repeated nuisance or building code violations, and failure to pay HOT.
The city said if and when the ordinance is approved, there will be a 180-day implementation period to help STR owners comply with the new regulations.
The ordinance has already garnered response from members of the public. Gretchen Gillis spoke at a public hearing before city council earlier this week, saying short-term rentals have been a "nightmare" in her neighborhood in the Museum District.
"It's affected every element of living in every lovely neighborhood," she said. "When many of us bought our properties, there was no hotel-like property there and now it has become a hotel."
Gillis added that she's mainly concerned about there being no responsibility over these "hotel-like" establishments.
"I don't have a problem with short-term rentals when it's something like a spare bedroom or a small unit somewhere, but when you have essentially a hotel with no management and security on site, it becomes a nuisance," said Gillis.
STR applications will start to be accepted by the city by August of this year.