Council members see the need for a few more tweaks
By Bob Seidenberg
Evanston city council members weren’t quite ready Monday to approve a new short-term “vacation rental” ordinance, seeking further balance between encouraging that form of housing but ensuring controls are in place.
Council members voted 8-0 to table action on the proposal until their Feb. 9 meeting, agreeing that the ordinance needs further amending.
“I think we are getting close with this but we’re not quite there,” said Councilmember Matt Rodgers, 8th.
Council member Juan Geracaris, 9th, is the sponsor of the ordinance, regulating housing in the short rental category, with fellow council members Bobby Burns, 5th, and Parielle Davis, 7th, co-sponsors of the legislation.
Council members approved a moratorium late last year acting on applications for vacation rentals, raising concern about the effect of the units on the long term rental market, which operates with leases.
After an earlier moratorium was lifted, officials identified 135 properties listed as short-term rentals on platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO. As of Jan. 2, staff reported, 78-short term units have been licensed, 11 of which have not been owner-occupied.
Ordinance an important one: Rodgers
The staff changes include a definition of short-term rentals as furnished units, rented for less than a year, without a lease.
Councilmember Rodgers, who proposed the second moratorium, said he would like the city “make it as easy as possible for people to register their properties but at the same time “come down with a heavy hand for people who violate it.”
“I think it’s important that we have this,” he said. “We do not have the number of hotels in the city that would benefit us, but are seeing a sizable amount of money coming through the hotel tax. And so I do think it’s important that we do include discussions on making these easy for point of entry, but the penalties being harsh when…not licensed.”
Councilmember Clare Kelly, 1st, raised concern about the length of time staff is proposing for the licenses, moving from 30 days or less to up to a year. She also urged the city look for ways to incentivize owner occupied and resident occupied units. Also, “there’s a big difference between owner and management,” she pointed out. “You can have a management firm that’s fairly depersonalized.”
The changes currently on the table include a stipulation that:
- “The property manager must reside within, or maintain an office within, three (3) miles
of the City of Evanston, reduced from 10 miles;
- The number of short-term rentals shall be limited to one per hundred (1:100) long-term
rental units, increased from one to 80:
- A short-term rental must be located more than six hundred feet (600 feet) from any otherlicensed short-term rental, increased from 300 feet.”
Burns added to that list the need for the city to require short-term rental providers to use platforms
that handle payment of the hotel/motel tax on the property owner’s behalf.
In that regard, city Law Department officials recommended the city consider the system which the city of Chicago uses, requesting all platforms such as Airbnb’s, VRBO, etc. to obtain a license from that city and that they also use a licensed platform as well.