The Chamber Corner: Air Your Opinion on Airbnb

15 Comments

1. 

   gary phillips on March 18, 2019 at 8:48 am

   I favor and support Airbnbs and feel that discouraging them is bad policy. They provide reasonable, flexible and transparent access to our communities, allow part-time incomes for our citizens and provide diverse possibilities for travelers. Stop the nonsense of pretending that limiting their use is in any way protective of our community.

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2. 

   Katie Loovis on March 18, 2019 at 9:31 am

   Thank you Gary – Do you think the current short-term rentals should be in compliance to the current zoning rules (ie: permit required, only allowed in certain zones) and do you think they should have a health and/or fire inspection?

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3. 

   MW Sherwood on March 18, 2019 at 9:36 am

   I agree with Mr. Phillips. Protecting corporate interests by squashing the competition is unfair and not free enterprise that, supposedly, the Chamber advocates.

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4. 

   Salette Andrews on March 18, 2019 at 10:23 am

   I totally agree, Mr. Phillips!

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5. 

   Salette Andrews on March 18, 2019 at 10:24 am

   I agree, Mr. Sherwood!

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6. 

   Katie Loovis on March 18, 2019 at 10:34 am

   MW Sherwood – Thank you and I pose the same follow-up question to you that I asked of Gary: Do you think the current short-term rentals should be in compliance to the current zoning rules (ie: permit required, only allowed in certain zones) and do you think they should have a health and/or fire inspection? Your feedback would be helpful as The Chamber absorbs input and determines what our position will be. Thank you.

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7. 

   Salette Andrews on March 18, 2019 at 10:57 am

   I believe that our local governments and our local chamber should be working to legalize and regulate private home rentals in a fair, reasonable, and equitable manner.

   A private home rental is a private residence that is rented to guests or tenants for any amount of time.

   I believe that any specific problems directly attributable to private home rentals can be addressed, resolved, or eliminated by reasonable operating regulations.

   I support reasonable minimum safety standards for all private home rentals, including long-term rentals.

   I challenge unsupported assertions that private home rentals are the sole, primary, or even substantial cause of many of the issues, problems, and changes that have affected Orange County in recent years. For example, while rising property values and rental rates may affect communities (both positively and negatively), private home rentals should receive neither the credit nor the blame for such changes without reliable supporting data.

   I disagree with the assertion that short-term rentals negatively impact the availability of affordable housing. In fact, short-term rentals improve access to housing. People on fixed incomes may be empowered to retain home ownership with the added income from a short-term rental in a portion of their home. Communities can benefit economically from the introduction of short-term rentals, with the financial outlay of hosts and guests for goods and services procured within that community. Local living economy, anyone?
   While there are differences between the various types of private home rentals, they each have their own appeal to diverse travelers, and none of these options are inherently detrimental to the community or to Big Lodging. My experience is that some guests specifically prefer the availability of onsite hosts, while others value their privacy and prefer to be left on their own. It is always good to have choices. The owners and operators of all private home rentals and their tenants should be responsible and accountable to each other, to neighbors, and to the community.

   I support the enforcement of reasonable regulations. I challenge the argument that short-term rentals are inherently different from longer rental periods. What inspections and regulations should apply to a seven-day rental that don’t apply to an eight-day rental?
   I respect the Chamber, and believe they should be required to demonstrate that the views and positions they take actually reflect the views and positions of the businesses they claim to represent. Without such data, it is inappropriate for the Chamber to take any formal position relative to private home rentals – whether for or against.

   I support consideration of the views and concerns of out-of-town developers and professional organizations such as the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association in determining what regulations may be reasonable and appropriate. I oppose consideration of the views and concerns of such organizations when the objective is to eliminate competition or to obtain or preserve an unfair competitive advantage.

   I support consideration of the views and concerns of Orange County residents and local businesses in determining what regulations may be reasonable and appropriate. I oppose the consideration of the specific views and concerns of out-of-town developers relative to specific private home rentals as evidence of a broader problem that relates to many, most, or all private home rentals. The solution to specific problems is to adopt reasonable enforceable regulations which address those specific problems.

   I support consideration of the views and concerns of property owners and property managers who operate or want to operate private home rentals.

   As Orange County is a desirable visitor destination, I support consideration of the wants, needs, and desires of our visitors. These include tourists, visitors coming for special events (festivals, graduations, weddings), business travelers (job applicants, people seeking to permanently relocate, artists, and performers), and visitors for other reasons (hospital patients, adoptive parents). The undisputed fact that private home rentals exist in increasing numbers is persuasive evidence that there is a very substantial demand for different visitor housing choices, including the option to stay in private home rentals.

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8. 

   Maxecine Mitchell on March 18, 2019 at 12:00 pm

   I agree with the all the comments at this point. I encourage the chamber to support free enterprise it’s good for the community in many ways.

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9. 

   David Lindquist on March 18, 2019 at 2:57 pm

   Concur with all the rational that Salette stated. STRs provides a wonderful alternative to hotel accommodations that showcase our town in a way that has never been possible before. Stop building mega complexes in our community for large out of county corporations, and let competition reign.

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10. 

    Armand Lenchek on March 18, 2019 at 4:18 pm

    It’s easy to characterize this issue as the little guy (home owners trying to get a little rent) versus the big guys (the corporations that own hotels). We must remember that Airbnb is now one of the largest corporations in the world (valued at $38B in 2018) and hotels come in all shapes & sizes, large & small, locally owned or not.
    In any case, hotels must comply with health and safety laws which are in place to protect everyone. Airbnbs are not being asked to maintain any kind of standard. it’s not a level playing field.

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11. 

    Salette Andrews on March 18, 2019 at 5:34 pm

    Armand, new hotels in this area are generally multi-story high-rise structures. Guests typically take an elevator to one of a hundred or more indistinguishable doors when they arrive. The elevators don’t work in an emergency evacuation, so of course there should be lighted exit signs and directions to the stairs, which is not the way guests came in. Now, how many times have you had to exit a home and weren’t sure how to get out? Usually, it’s pretty easy to remember how you came in. What is the difference between exiting a house that you’ve just rented for the week or exiting a house that you’ve just rented for a month? Are you saying that all rental housing should comply with the same health and safety laws as a high-rise hotel? Wouldn’t that be a bit onerous for small landlords?

    Did you know that AirBnB is already automatically paying the same taxes as hotels? So as far as economic development goes, it’s already a level playing field, and more government regulation on small local businesses seems to run contrary to the values of a local living economy.

    Finally, when I ran a short-term rental in another town, I paid one of my neighbors $25 an hour to clean. I paid another neighbor a similar rate to take care of the lawn. Do you know if the hotels in question have committed to paying a living wage or a housing wage?

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12. 

    Ryan C on March 19, 2019 at 3:44 pm

    I think there is a huge issue that hasn’t been addressed here as of yet. I’ve lived in several large cities (Hoboken, Manhattan, and Atlanta) where Airbnb has become a large problem. Here is the gist of the issue:

    As Airbnb’s rise in popularity, in rate, and in profit, they begin eating into the market supply of homes and available apartment rentals. In many cases, it begins to be more profitable for a management company of an apartment or condo building to set aside a large amount of their available inventory to these STR’s. The law of supply and demand states that as these STR’s begin eating into the supply of apartments and condos, the purchasing a condo or renting an apartment in the area will increase.

    I have seen this happen many times, and it has only increased rental and purchase prices in these markets. It begins to put apartment prices out of reach of the middle class graduates or families.

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13. 

    Salette Andrews on March 20, 2019 at 3:21 pm

    Yes, that is the narrative that Big Lodging has pursued. Do you have any evidence that apartment or condo managers are doing this in Carrboro?

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/16/technology/inside-the-hotel-industrys-plan-to-combat-airbnb.html

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14. 

    Susan Wood on April 1, 2019 at 4:05 pm

    I agree completely with Mr. Phillips and Sherwood. It is part time income that helps tremendously. Hotels cannot offer affordable rooms for multiple family members.

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15. 

    Betty on April 30, 2019 at 9:20 am

    Agreed Katie, I lived in Chapel hill paying almost 8000 for property tax a year, and my next door neighbor using their basement as Airbnb, I have to deal with different strangers every day when they used the path on the lawn to the entrance, and you don’t know who’s parking along your house, as a homeowner in this community should have a right to know whether they are permitted and should have health/fire inspections too

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