At an April 5 Waynesville Village Council meeting, resident Sharon Jewell of Robindale Drive presented a petition by concerned residents who were against allowing a possible Airbnb rental on her street.
Jewell expressed concerns about property values being brought down. In addition, she said there were concerns about the element of some renters and felt it would be bad for the community to allow Airbnb rentals in areas of the village that are zoned for single-family residential homes.
Another resident Travis Hatmaker of Joycie Lane raised concerns April 5 about two drive-by shootings that had happened in other area municipalities involving Airbnb rentals. He did not think residentially zoned areas were appropriate for Airbnbs.
While Waynesville has ordinances that regulate local hotels and bed & breakfast inns, the village has nothing in its code regulating the short-term rentals of less than 30 days, such as Airbnb or VRMO rentals.
Village Law Director Jeff Forbes said in addition to the six-month pause on short-term rentals, the moratorium also requires council to research the issue and to develop regulations for these types of rentals.
“Courts allow this as long as the village is actively looking at the issue,” he said.
Forbes said council could have a work-session to gather more information and more public input.
He said a council committee could look into the issue and develop regulations for short-term rentals as an village ordinance or council could opt to add this to the village zoning code and refer the question to the village Planning Commission to begin the process.
Village officials said some communities, such as Blue Ash and Bellbrook, do not permit these types of rentals.
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