With almost no dissent expressed this week, Hurst became the latest city to ban short-term rentals like Airbnb.
On a unanimous voice vote, the Hurst City Council on Tuesday moved forward with a plan to ban such rentals beginning next year.
Hurst has counted nearly two dozen short-term rental locations within city limits. Only two are with Airbnb, that company said.ADVERTISING
The operators will get a six-month grace period to phase out their operations, said Hurst spokeswoman Kara McKinney.
She said a few property owners spoke against the ban after it was approved this week. Otherwise, there was no outcry.
“There has not been any type of protest since council [initially] voted back in November or prior to that meeting,” she said.
That contrasts with nearby Grapevine, which is facing a legal challenge over its attempts to restrict short-term rentals in residential areas.
The Hurst ban follows “complaints from neighbors of those offering their homes as short-term rentals [related to] trash, parking, noise [and] nuisance associated with parties, and general safety and security,” the city said on its website.
“This underscores the conflict with commercial use of property in single-family zones. Short-term rentals also operate without the same regulation for health and safety that traditional hotels are required to follow. Additionally, short-term rentals typically collect the state hotel-motel taxes; however, they are not collecting the local hotel-motel taxes in Hurst, and it does not appear that websites supporting short-term rentals will assist with the calculation and collection of our local hotel-motel tax,” the website said.
Hurst collects a 7 percent tax from hotels for stays shorter than 30 days, in addition to the 6 percent state tax.
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A new group of short-term rental owners has formed in Arlington to help guide that city to a set of laws that backers say can work for both sides.