VCPORA’s Advocacy Alert
Short Term Rentals
Now is the time to write to the City Planning Commission and City Council about Short Term Rentals!
Public written comments (emails) to City Planning Commission are due no later than THIS Monday, January 16th by 5:00 p.m.
Did you know that, per capita, New Orleans has nearly FOUR TIMES as many short term rental listings as New York City? (Source: www.insideairbnb.com)
We also beat Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Let that sink in.
Since federal courts ruled that the Homestead Exemption requirement discriminates against out-of-towners from cashing in on New Orleans STRs, the City Council is rewriting the regulations.
This could mean eliminating the critical French Quarter STR ban and more STRs in all our neighborhoods, taking up more available housing, and further driving up the price of rentals and property.
It is imperative that you let our City officials know your concerns NOW! The City Planning Commission and City Council are already hearing from hundreds of pro-STR advocates. Make sure your voice is heard too.
We should keep those and expand it to at least the Marigny and Tremé, and any neighborhood that wants a total ban. What about that?
Email them today: Subject line Zoning Docket 002/23 – Short Term Rentals
To: cpcinfo@nola.gov; JP.Morrell@nola.gov; helena.moreno@nola.gov; joseph.giarrusso@nola.gov; Lesli.Harris@nola.gov; Freddie.King@nola.gov; eugene.green@nola.gov; Oliver.Thomas@nola.gov; info@vcpora.org
What we want: Reasonable restrictions that will protect all New Orleans neighborhoods
We need to extend neighborhood prohibitions in areas most impacted by over tourism, like the Marigny and Tremé. Every neighborhood deserves protections for their housing stock, for their community, and for their quality of life.
The French Quarter is not safe from this regulatory re-write!
Well-connected property owners, lawyers, and lobbyists have long looked to cash in on more of the French Quarter – specifically those areas in the VCE-1, VCC-1, and VCC-2, where businesses operate on the ground floor and housing units exist in the rear and on upper floors.
There are hundreds, if not nearly a thousand of dwelling units in these three districts alone! Do not let them turn these residential opportunities into more places for tourists to stay. Neighborhoods like the Vieux Carré depend on having residents in them – this is the authenticity our visitors are coming to see. The French Quarter has had a de facto transient rental moratorium since 1969 that has been very good for the economy of New Orleans.
We are on an incredibly accelerated timeline. Another recent judicial ruling gave the city until the end of March to have all the new regulations in place. That means public meetings during Mardi Gras season. We need all of your help and participation in this process.
Please mark January 24 on your calendar and plan to attend the City Planning Commission hearing. The meeting starts at 1:30 p.m., but we believe this item will come much later – more information to follow.
Here is a good start to re-writing the regulations:
1. Expand Neighborhood Prohibitions AND Maintain Existing Prohibitions
Historic neighborhoods throughout the city have been hollowed out by the damaging effects of STRs. Strict limits and total prohibitions in areas like the French Quarter, Garden District, Marigny, and Tremé will help return housing stock to the residential market and begin to reverse the corrosive effects of the past decade.
2. No Residential Short Term Rentals
STRs are fundamentally a commercial use. They should be prohibited in all other residential zoning districts city-wide to protect housing opportunities for New Orleanians at all economic levels. STRs in residential areas should only be considered when tied to the production of affordable housing.
3. Density Restrictions by Square in Mixed Use and Commercial Districts
In mixed-use and commercial districts, where residential housing is a major component, strict caps on the number of STRs should be imposed by square, rather than block face. This allows for easier identification and regulation when buildings often have multiple addresses on corners. These should be restricted to 1 – 2 maximum, depending on intensity of underlying district.
4. Full time, On-site operators
A person over the age of 18 must reside at the Short Term Rental full time. This person must assume the responsibility of being the point of contact and mitigator for any disturbances emanating from the STR unit.
5. STRs restricted to a Natural Person
Both the property owner and the permit holder must be a singular living, human being, not a Limited Liability Corporation or some other legally incorporated entity. Further, there should be a limit on the number of permits any individual may hold within Orleans Parish.
6. Enforcement & Adjudications
Nothing works without enforcement. Increase the capacity for enforcement by making the STR office fully funded through the collections of all permit fees and fines. Increase the number of adjudications and have a city attorney present during the hearings to reduce city liability and subsequent lawsuits. Increase public participation and transparency by announcing violations and adjudication hearings via the Notice Me notification tool.
7. Prevent the wholesale conversion of entire buildings into Hotels and STRs
Establish a land-use mechanism within the CZO to avoid entire residential apartment and condo buildings from being converted to short term rentals. Tie any building conversions or planned adaptive reuse projects for lodging accommodations to affordable set asides utilizing the Smart Mix Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning policy.
8. Require Life Safety Code Adherence
All STRs should have a proof of insurance liability waiver up to $1,000,000 and be equipped with sprinkler systems, exit signs, and ADA accessibility. Create an inspection system where each unit can be evaluated by a city employee with recurring inspections on a complaint-based system.
9. Increase trash collection fees for all STR permit holders
Email them today: Subject line Zoning Docket 002/23 – Short Term Rentals
To: cpcinfo@nola.gov; JP.Morrell@nola.gov; helena.moreno@nola.gov; joseph.giarrusso@nola.gov; Lesli.Harris@nola.gov; Freddie.King@nola.gov; eugene.green@nola.gov; Oliver.Thomas@nola.gov; info@vcpora.org
Please stress we need to keep the BAN on STRs in the fragile French Quarter and Garden District while expanding protections to all neighborhoods, especially the hardest hit like the Marigny and Tremé.
