Fort Worth residents to weigh potential short term rental regulations in early July
Residents on both sides of Fort Worth’s short term rental debate showed up in mass Tuesday to lobby the city council on the potential for new regulations.
Proponents argued short term rentals, usually listed on websites like Airbnb and Vrbo, provide homeowners with an extra source of income, while meeting a market demand for diverse hospitality options.
Opponents countered short term rentals damage neighborhood cohesion and worried about neighborhoods being turned into commercial enterprises.
The city passed an ordinance in 2018 that allowed short term rentals in commercial and mixed use zoning districts, but put a firm ban on renting out a home for less than 30 days in a residential neighborhood.
Now the council may reconsider that ordinance as city staff gets ready to present options to the public on ways to regulate short term rentals.
It’s not clear what options will be presented, but assistant city manager Dana Burghdoff said the city will create a web page where residents can give feedback on the potential regulations.
The page is expected to go live on the city’s website by early July.
It’s also planning to hold public meetings on the issue, but it’s not yet known when and where those will be.
The city signed a $35,000 contract with data mining firm Deckard Technologies Inc. to help identify the scope of Fort Worth’s short term rental marketplace. An initial report is expected sometime in July before a final report is presented to the city council in August.
The city could look next door to Arlington as an example of how to properly regulate short term rentals, said Dave Schwarte, an Arlington resident and co-founder of Texas Neighborhood Coalition.
Arlington limited short term rentals to within a mile of the entertainment district. Schwarte said the compromise allowed the city to have short term rentals while preventing from encroaching on single family neighborhoods.
Jarrod Roecker, an Azle resident and vice president of the Fort Worth Short Term Rental Alliance, said his organization is trying to meet with the city’s numerous neighborhood associations to find common ground on an ordinance that can get the support of a majority of Fort Worth residents.
Both sides of the argument want the same things for Fort Worth neighborhoods, said Shannon Ross, who’s lived in east Fort Worth’s Handley neighborhood for 10 years and operates several short term rentals.
“We want clean, safe, quiet places to live and an increase in our investments, in our homes,” she said.
This story was originally published June 21, 2022 at 9:47 PM.
.jpg)