TODAY, May 24, New Orleans City Council will vote on a motion that would place a temporary ban on the issuance and renewal of Temporary and Commercial Short Term Rental permits in the most impacted neighborhoods citywide.
If voted for, the temporary prohibition will apply to the Historic Core, Historic Urban and CBD zoning districts. This proposed ban would only affect whole-house rentals — which makes up 73 percent of all short-term rental permits in the city. Homeowners who rent out a spare room in their houses or rent out half of their double would still be able to do so.
The motion, authored by City Councilmember Kristin Palmer and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Jay Banks, Jared Brossett, Joseph Giarusso, and Jason Williams, accompanies a second motion which rescinds the current study underway and calls for a new one that examines the adopted regulations of similarly affected cities.
The motion also orders the planning commission to consider:
- Limiting short-term rentals to certain parts of the city
- Collecting higher fees for development of affordable housing
- Capping the number of short-term rental licenses that can be issued on a block or in a Census tract.
There are three types of STR permits:
- Accessory – allowed in residential neighborhoods. It allows a property owner, with a homestead exemption, to rent out a spare room or half of a double year round.
- Temporary – allowed in residential neighborhoods. It caps rentals at 90 nights per year for whole homes.
- Commercial – allowed in commercially and residentially zoned areas. It allows for year-round rentals of whole homes.
Currently, the city has issued over 5,000 STR permits but has received over 10,000 permit applications. Together, the temporary and commercial categories make up 73 percent of all permits issued and are the only type of STR permits affected by this motion.
The PRC remains in opposition to non-owner occupied whole home rentals in our residential neighborhoods and supports sensible measures to limit the negative impacts of short-term rental proliferation across the city. How do Short Term Rentals negatively affect our neighborhoods?
- Whole home rentals affect housing affordability by removing available residential units and artificially inflating property values.
- When residents are replaced by a constant flow of temporary visitors, neighborhood safety and quality of life are compromised.
- Furthermore, the unique fabric of our neighborhoods erodes as the residents, the sources of our inimitable culture, are pushed out.
We need a better set of ordinances to regulate STRs, but we cannot afford to let the situation worsen while these are being explored. Please support Councilmember Palmer and her co-sponsors’ efforts to get it right this time!
What you can do:
- Attend the meeting today, May 24 at 1 p.m. in Council Chambers (1300 Perdido St.) and support our residents and neighborhoods.
- Please wear RED to show your support to rein in the proliferation of Short Term Rentals.
- Email your City Council member to support these motions.
- If you are unable to make it to the City Council meeting, you can see a live stream of the chambers here at 1 p.m. on May 24.
More Details
See the two motions here, and here.
Neighborhoods affected by the temporary ban:
- French Quarter
- Marigny
- Bywater
- Treme
- Holy Cross
- St. Roch
- Algiers Point
- Lower Ninth Ward
- Central City
- Uptown
- Irish Channel
- Lower Garden District
- Garden District
- Parkview
- Faubourg St. John
- Hollygrove
- Gentilly
