Short- term rentals off the table in Electric City

People who own houses in Electric City and who don’t live in those houses will not be able to rent them for any timeframe shorter than a month, following a city council vote last week.

In contrast to short-term rentals, when the owner of a home occupies it, they are allowed to charge people to stay for short terms as a “bed and breakfast.”

The Electric City Council voted 3-1 March 13 not to continue with the idea of including such “short-term rentals” in the city’s comprehensive plan.

Prior to the vote, two couples spoke against the idea. Mark and Debby Jenson and David and Nancy Brown spoke at the city council meeting, voicing their objections.

“In the past, our neighborhood has always been a peaceful, quiet, family-friendly area,” Mark Jenson said. “The short-term rental of this one house totally changed that character of our neighborhood for much of last summer.”

The Jensons and Browns both say they suffered through late-night party noise from drunken short-term renters, and from litter and other undesirable qualities throughout last summer, which brought the issue to the forefront of city council meetings. The city had allowed their neighbor’s home on Lakeview Avenue to continue to be rented out to fulfill the reservations already made, while not allowing any further reservations of the residence.

The removal of the proposal means that short-term rentals won’t be allowed in Electric City anytime soon, as the city is only allowed to approve amendments to its comprehensive plan once a year, according to City Clerk Russ Powers.

Councilmember Rich McGuire brought the motion to remove consideration of the ordinance. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Birdie Hensley. Councilmember Carol Nordine also voted in support of removal, with only Councilmember Lonna Bussert in opposition. Bussert felt the issue should have been discussed further before being put to a vote.