When backyards become businesses, Lexington neighborhoods can suffer | Opinion

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council’s fervent goal to increase density, especially downtown, means a lot of things to a lot of people. But for some long-term residents it means backyards are literally becoming businesses, with tour busses parked on residential streets, as short-term rentals (STRs) spread throughout certain neighborhoods.

STRs like Airbnb and VRBO can be a blessing for travelers, but for nearby residents, they can be a curse. Finding the balance between business development and homeowner rights can be tricky. Cities around the world are responding to the challenge in very diverse ways, including outright bans. With this latest STR Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment (ZOTA), Lexington leaders need to remember the challenges these properties bring to residents and address the negatives as they move forward.

Research shows that STRs increase both home prices and rental costs while simultaneously decreasing the housing supply. They are a growing investment trend with publications like Forbes Magazine encouraging investors to convert houses to unhosted STRs for returns 50-75 percent higher than long-term rentals, without the problems of a lease or evictions. In Lexington, for example, there is a business entity that owns between 8 and 10 STR houses. Residential owners are at an unfair advantage as homes become a “market commodity.” Many long-term residents have been forced to move because newly constructed STRs raise their property taxes beyond what they can afford. Lexington is experiencing a housing crisis – a situation local leaders should consider when setting policy.

Studies show neighborhood crime increases when the neighborhood “watchdog” systems break. Unlike resident owners, transient occupants don’t know or care about what’s going on next door, or what they’re doing to the neighborhood. In September, there was a scary incident in my neighborhood at an unhosted STR. The police were called to deal with several intoxicated people, cars blocking the street, and folks with running around with guns on a tiny, quiet, residential street with a lot of kids. Further investigation determined the “tenant” was running an illegal business in the house. Safety needs to be a high priority for STR operation.

When things go wrong, it falls to the neighborhood’s residents to expend their time and energy. The non-present owner of an STR can always ignore the situation, but it is the STR’s neighbors who not only shoulder the burden of increased crime, traffic, and noise, but who also take on the responsibility of working to make sure their neighborhoods continue to be livable places.

Lexington’s leaders need to approach this ZOTA with their residents in mind. It is a complex piece of legislation to summarize, but as neighborhood advocates we would like to see the following specific changes to support neighborhoods:

▪ Increase buffer zones to a radius of 700 feet between STRs, limit neighborhood density to 2 percent (hosted and unhosted combined), and decrease maximum guest number to 10, with no exceptions.

▪ Prioritize “hosted” STRs where the owner must reside in the property at least 275 days a year and is required to be on the property during all rentals with no substitutions such as relatives or paid managers.

▪ Eliminate exceptions and apply the same buffer, density, and guest requirements in the downtown core, adjacent to B-1 zones, and within mixed-use or entertainment areas as other neighborhoods.

▪ Clarify vague language such as “sufficient evidence,” “nuisance,” and “adjacent.” Providing clear language with objective and consistent rules would eliminate time-consuming deliberation, arbitrary outcomes, and frustration for government employees as well as residents.

▪ Create a 24/7 hotline and online information system for citizen complaints. Residents and businesses can access all STR permits, applications, licenses, citations and valid complaints. A hotline would improve police referrals and record-keeping as well as allow council to identify problem owners and units.

Lexington is an exciting tourist destination, but it is also our home. Tourist dollars are great, but when economies shrink it is the residents who keep businesses and governments afloat.

Trish Smith is a retired small-business owner in Lexington who stays active in her community and enjoys travel.