Planning Commission Will Take Up The Contentious Matter Of Short-Term Rentals

On Thursday, the Metro Planning Commission will consider six separate ordinances governing short-term rentals in metro Nashville. The commission had put off consideration of the matter in case the Tennessee legislature passed a proposal to preempt municipalities from regulating STRs, which it did not.

The commission will consider whether to modify the rules set down for STRs in Nashville in 2015, which seem to have pleased no one. Three kinds of STRs are allowed for a $50 permit fee (up to 29 days for each rental):

• Residents renting a room or apartment in their own home. 
• Investors renting a single-family house in a residential neighborhood. They can rent to up to 12 people, depending on the number of sleeping rooms in the house. This type is limited to 3% of the properties in each census tract.
• Investors renting condos or apartments, also up to 12 people. This type is not limited by census tract.

The six proposals are:

• 2016-608 would phase out investors renting out single-family homes over the next three years.
• 2016-609 and -610 would both place moratoriums on new short-term rental permits, either for one or three years. 
• 2016-611 would require that investors who want to run STRs get the written permission of adjacent property owners. 
• 2016-653 requires that property owners seeking permits to rent out a room or apartment in their own homes to show more forms of ID. 
• 2016-685 would essentially keep the current rules in place.  

The planning commission will hold one public hearing session on each of the proposed ordinances.