Kentucky legislators advance bill to eliminate density restrictions on short-term rentals

=\The bill was amended at the eleventh-hour and would impact rules in Lexington, Louisville and Covington.

Kentucky legislators have passed a bill that started out focused on swimming pool rules but was rewritten to upend certain local short-term rental regulations. 

Under Senate Bill 61, cities cannot place density restrictions on short-term rentals. The bill was amended by the House Speaker David Osborne (R) late Wednesday before a vote in the chamber on Friday. 

Specifically, the bill would prohibit cities from regulating that short-term rentals be spaced any distance apart, or whether they can exceed a percentage of dwelling units in a particular area. 

Local governments are also mandated under the bill to approve a short-term rental application within 30 days, and cannot reject an application solely based on density restrictions. 

Cities could still reject requests to operate a short-term rental if they have health, safety or welfare concerns.  

Lexington, Louisville and Covington are three cities in the state that have implemented density restrictions in response to residents complaining their neighborhoods were over-run by short-term rentals. 

The amended bill now goes to the state Senate to be voted on. Legislators who support density restrictions say if the bill passes both chambers it could have “devastating” effects on neighborhoods they represent. 

New and Proposed Regulations:

• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: City leaders want a federal court rather than the county court to review whether a controversial ban on short-term rentals is constitutional. (link)
• South Lake Tahoe, California: A judge threw out a 2018 ballot initiative that banned short-term rentals in South Lake Tahoe’s residential neighborhoods. (link) 
• Fort Worth, Texas: A judge ruled that the city of Fort Worth is within its authority to regulate short-term rentals after STR operators claimed the rules violated their property rights. (link)  
• Woodland Park, Colorado: A judge rejected an effort to annul city regulations limiting where STRs can operate and requiring that they obtain a license. (link)  
• Door County, Wisconsin: A lawsuit from four short-term rental owners challenging the village of Sister Bay’s regulations will proceed, after a judge denied the village’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. (link)  
• Petersburg, Virginia: City planners are reviewing how to regulate short-term rentals given the properties are currently unregulated, with no registry to track properties or enforce safety rules. (link) 

Other Noteworthy News:

• Illegal operations: A six-month investigation aided by the AI-powered Host Compliance software in Fayetteville, Arkansas, found at least 155 short-term rentals are operating illegally. (link) The city is now enforcing its short-term rental ordinance on the identified properties. (link)