COLUMBIA — The Columbia City Council will meet with the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission Monday, July 24 to discuss short-term rentals (STRs).
STRs are housing options that are typically seen as alternatives to hotels, such as Airbnb or Vrbo.
Monday’s special joint work session is the latest in a years-long push by the Planning and Zoning Commission to introduce regulations and potential limitations to STRs, which began in 2019 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In December of 2022, the commission presented initial regulatory standards for STRs. These would establish permitted locations and define other regulatory criteria/standards required to be met for a property owner or tenant to legally license a unit or portion of a unit as a STR.
In the following months, the commission then distributed a survey to gather the community’s thoughts on the proposed regulations. The survey asked participants for their thoughts on potentially limiting to the locations of STRs, limiting the number of STRs an individual can own, as well as whether or not they support the preservation of affordable housing.
The survey results saw 434 individual responses from the community and over 50 written responses. It shows that most community members are not in favor of adding limitations, with 63% of participants saying they are against adding limitations to the location of STRs, and 71% against limitations on the number of days a STR can be rented out.
While many community members are against the potential limitations that could be added to STRs, the survey found that the majority of participants are in favor of adding some form of regulation. 59% of survey responders agreed that STRs should meet minimum registration requirements such as the payment of lodging taxes and unit inspections to ensure health and safety measures are met.
Monday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 in Conference Room 1A of the Columbia City Hall. While the public is welcome to attend the proceedings, the city said in a Facebook post that there will not be an opportunity for public comment, and future opportunities for public comment will be scheduled at a later date.
An audio recording of the work session will be made available on CoMo.gov.
