Residents, non-resident rental owners at odds over burgeoning business in historic district
There was no vacancy in the Laurel City Council meeting room as a proposed ordinance regulating the city’s burgeoning short-term rental businesses in residential areas was discussed and debated on Tuesday evening.
A standing-room-only crowd gathered and several people weighed in with their thoughts even though Mayor Johnny Magee and Council President Tony Thaxton made it clear that the proposal on the agenda was not the one they’ll be considering and there would be no vote on the matter at that meeting.
The item was deleted from the agenda, Magee said, “not because there are a lot of people here ... but because someone jumped the gun. We’re still working on an ordinance. What’s on the agenda tonight is not what was sent to the Planning Commission.”
Council members received plenty of feedback on points to consider for formulating an ordinance. They heard from proponents of stricter regulations who want to maintain the residential qualities of their neighborhood and from short-term rental owners who made the argument that the tourists who drive here and stay overnight are driving the local economy, too.
“We can pretend that they’re not businesses, but they’re making money, so it’s a business,” Whitney Pickering said, adding that a quick Google search shows 79 Airbnb and VRBO rental units in the area. They “blur the lines” of residential and commercial properties in “prime locations that are still mostly” zoned for residential in the historic district, where the majority of Ben and Erin Napier’s renovation work has been highlighted on “Home Town.”
At issue is resident vs. non-resident owners, Pickering said.
“Absentee owners and slumlords” caused the decline of the city, she said, and she’s concerned that when there is no more Home Town, those
houses that were owned by non-residents could eventually become cheap rental property.
“We’ll still be around after the tourists are gone,” Pickering said.
There are two rental units beside her house, she said, and that has led to an increase in noise with “house parties going on” and people they don’t know coming and going.
She pointed to an ordinance that allows only one bed-and-breakfast per block in the city.
“There’s wisdom in that ordinance that needs to be considered,” she said.
Pickering also noted that many cities make a distinction between short-term rentals with residents on-site and those owned by non-residents, and she encouraged officials to consider that.
“The pendulum could swing to glut,” she said, and eventually, “tourists arrive to find a huge empty soundstage of Airbnbs where those warm residents they saw on TV used to live.”
Historic district residents Susan Reeder, Read Diket and Phyllis Johnson agreed with Pickering’s sentiment.
“We want to maintain the qualities of a neighborhood for families,” Reeder said. “Please be very, very careful with this.”
People who live in the area “invested in a residential neighborhood,” Johnson
said.
“We want to know our neighbors. We support Home Town, but there need to be restrictions and guidelines or we will lose the integrity of a neighborhood.”
But Jennifer Lapan — who owns rentals next to Pickering — pointed out that she and her husband John made a $700,000 investment in renovating the houses.
“That’s a lot of skin in the game,” she said and was apparently referring to Pickering when she said they have been “getting pushback from this person.”
Lapan noted that the real-estate listing for the property described it as “perfect for a bed-and-breakfast” and when a resident purchased a property on the same street to turn into an Airbnb, some of the same complainers went to the open house and wished the owner luck.
She said her property — one of which just had its first guests stay Tuesday — has “ample parking” in the back while people who are complaining “park on the street.”
Lapan said she has had rental properties in Las Vegas, on the Mississippi coast and in Nashville, but she is “proud to be able to come home” to continue that venture.
“We have great guests ... bringing lots of money to the city,” she said. “Home Town is never going away. People love it. I will never be a slumlord. I will never lower my prices just to rent it out. Most of our guests are middle-aged or retired, and they just want to experience what it’s like to live here. They don’t come here to party.”
Liz Ables, who manages 13 local Airbnbs for mostly non-resident owners — including the one that was voted as the best in the state, at Old Bay Springs Road and 15th Street — said, “We’ve never had any problems with noise or vandalism, and I’ll be happy to show you our full calendar” of rental reservations.
Joseph Watkins told the council that he has invested more than $2 million in his downtown businesses, which include Airbnbs.
“If we get an ordinance against us, hotels need to get the same thing,” he said. Jim Rasberry — a star on “Home Town” and owner of two Airbnbs in the historic district that are managed by his his wife and fellow “Home Town” star Mallorie — talked about the home where he grew up on 1st Avenue and the home he and his wife purchased on 4th Avenue.
“When we moved there, it was not family-oriented, but it went through significant changes for the better,” he said of the 4th Avenue property while indicating that the 1st Avenue property has also changed, but not for the better. As a former member of the city school board and Jones County Economic Development Authority team, Rasberry said he appreciates the position that the mayor and council are in.
“We care about the city,” he said. “People in this community have invested, and the reward is becoming part of a community that’s in high demand. It’s great keeping money here.”
The significance of being able to keep tourists overnight means they spend more time and money here, he said.
“We don’t have the supply of hotels, so short-term rentals fit the bill,” he said. “We care about the community as much as anyone, and we’ve invested quite a bit, too. I ask you to create a common-sense ordinance. It’s not going to cover everyone’s desires. We need to find common ground that doesn’t prohibit, but polices it.”
Thaxton said that the input from the extended Citizens’ Forum portion of the meeting “will be considered” in forming and voting on an ordinance.
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