The Henderson City Commission Tuesday will hear a second reading of short-term rental ordinance that it preliminarily passed at last week’s special called meeting. The commission voted unanimously to approve it at the Oct. 15 meeting.
The commission is revisiting the issue after it decided in April that a previous proposal regarding the zoning of short-term rentals contained some restrictive regulations.
According to a previous Hendersonian article, there was language in the short-term rental property ordinance that ensures a property does not become a nuisance to other property owners in a neighborhood, specifically so that it doesn’t become a party house.
Additionally the article said that some of the other amendments of the short-term rental property zoning proposal were that a guest can’t stay at the property for longer than 29 days; sufficient parking for both the host and guests must be available; the host is not able to serve food; the number of occupants shall not exceed double the number of sleeping rooms plus two; and a local responsible party must be available to respond to problems 24 hours a day.
The ordinance due for a second reading Tuesday says, among other changes, that owners must follow Kentucky Health Code laws and obtain health department permits to cooking food, and the city fire marshal shall inspect the property to determine maximum occupancy.
It also says that a short-term rental contract must include a clear statement that guests must adhere to the city’s ordinance’s including noise, nuisance, traffic and parking regulations.
At the April meeting, local attorney Curt Hamilton objected that an ordinance pertaining to short-term rentals was unneeded, saying it was attempting to curtail problems that don’t exist.
Hamilton, who owns three properties in downtown Henderson that he uses as short-term rentals, repeated that assessment in a recent interview with the Hendersonian. He said there have been no problems associated with his short-term rentals.
“Why are we legislating problems before they happen?” he said.
