Unrest Continues Over San Antonio's Short-Term Rental Ordinance

One of San Antonio's priciest neighborhoods is asking City Council to ban certain types of short-term rentals in local historic districts.

The King William Association sent a letter to Mayor Ron Nirenberg last week, asking that a draft ordinance for short-term rentals be amended to ban so-called "whole house" rentals, where the home's owner is absent or off-site. San Antonio, like Austin, has divided short-term rentals into those where owners live on-site and rent out a room (Type I) and off-site owners (Type II).

The letter, as reported by Texas Public Radio, also called on the city to maintain its bed-and-breakfast ordinance, which was spurred by neighborhood concerns two decades ago. The letter requested the city strike grandfathering, implement noise limits and require an annual renewal process.

When the ordinance will make its way to City Council is still a question mark. The next public hearing will be Feb. 6, before the Zoning Commission. City Council member Greg Brockhouse expressed his frustration to Texas Public Radio last week, complaining that eight months of work with a volunteer task force was being shunted to a work session for further discussion. 

San Antonio's Board of Adjustment did pass the draft ordinance earlier this month, the  San Antonio Business Journal reports. Other terms defined by the ordinance include distance between short-term rentals, length of stay and registration requirements. Under the draft ordinance, short-term rentals would register with the city every three years, at a cost of $200.