Las Vegas City Council has approved new terms and restrictions aimed at curbing party houses and other abuses arising from the popularity of short-term home rentals on the internet.
The provisions are incorporated in a bill that squeaked through the council on a 4-3 vote over the protests of several homeowners who argued it unjustly punishes everyone for the bad behavior of a few.
“This is just going to make everything worse,” said Julie Davis of the Vegas Vacation Rental Association, which fought hard to defeat the bill. “They’ve just put legal operators out of business. Everyone else will go underground.”
The bill’s sponsor, Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian, defended the restrictions as long overdue.
“What is a neighborhood? I looked it up in the dictionary,” she said. “A neighborhood is a group of people living near each other that share the same goals and have common interests. I submit that short-term rentals and their users do not share similar goals with the homeowners in the Las Vegas areas most affected by these.”
The new rules require that homeowners interested in renting out their properties for 30 days or less apply for a $1,030 special-use permit in addition to the business license already required by the city. Owner-operated units with three bedrooms or less are exempt from this requirement, unless they are located within 660 feet of an existing licensed short-term rental.
Renters also will have to comply with maximum occupancy limits and bans on events and parties on the properties and will have to show proof of liability insurance coverage of at least $500,000.
For properties with five bedrooms or more, a licensed security company must be retained to respond to complaints within two hours.
Violators of any of these terms would be subject to a two-strike policy before losing their permit or license.
