Birmingham, Alabama, resident Pat Thompson bought a house in September on Azalea Drive in Columbus, hoping her elderly parents would downsize and move there.

When her parents opted to stay where they are, Thompson turned to Airbnb to salvage her investment by offering it to travelers for short-term rental. What she didn’t realize at the time was the covenants for the Northaven Woods subdivision prohibited using a house there for that purpose.

After just one renter stayed in Thompson’s house, Northaven Woods residents aired complaints to the city’s planning commission to put a stop to it. They won.

“I hadn’t done anything,” Thompson told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “I don’t want people to think that Airbnb is a problem. It’s not. It’s the neighbors.”

The Planning Commission easily denied the use of Thompson’s house as an Airbnb on the basis it violated neighborhood covenants the property owner had signed. The city council on Tuesday upheld the commission’s recommendation.

But during the commission’s discussion, other issues arose, chairman Kevin Stafford said. The city, as it turned out, had a vague definition for “bed and breakfast” and has no definition at all for “short-term rental.”

“What if (Northaven Woods) didn’t have covenants?” Stafford asked. “Would this have been allowed?”

On Tuesday, in addition to ratifying the commission’s decision on Thompson’s house, the council also approved its recommendation to require any bed and breakfast in the city to be owner occupied. However, it tabled two other commission recommendations to define short-term rentals and establish restrictions on what zones they are allowed.

Under the proposed definition, any house or apartment occupied by the same person or group for less than 30 days would be considered a short-term rental. Those would include accommodations booked through websites such as Airbnb and VRBO.

Further, the commission seeks to prohibit short-term rentals from operating in R1 single-family residential and C1 neighborhood commercial restricted zones, the latter of which is reserved for professional office space for such things as doctor, dental or law practices, city building official Kenny Wiegel said.

If approved, short-term rentals would be allowed in C1 neighborhood commercial, C2 community commercial (such as most of downtown) and C3 highway commercial without any additional city permission. In all other zones, owners of short-term rental property would need permitted use granted by the planning commission and city council.

“We discussed for a long time whether to allow permitted use (for short-term rentals) in an R1,” Stafford said. “Ultimately we decided to preserve the sanctity of the single-family residential community.”

An owner-occupied bed and breakfast would be allowed in an R1 zone, as would renting out a home for periods 30 days or longer.

“It’s not the intent of a bed and breakfast to be a short-term rental,” Stafford said. “If you’re living there, you have more of a vested interest in the property. We didn’t think we could tell people who lived in a home who they could have as guests, regardless of whether they fed them or even charged them (to stay).”

Thompson said she thought the recommendations are “over the top” and “unfair.”

“I hate it for the other people (who own short-term rentals) who will have to do this,” she said.

Stafford sees her point.

“You can argue it both ways,” he acknowledged. “This is all human-driven. You can own one of these and have all good renters … and everybody wins. (But what if) you bad renter … who goes in and shoots up the neighborhood …?”

‘These discussions need to be had’
Wiegel estimated Wednesday there are “30ish” short-term rentals available in Columbus. He’s not sure how many are in allowable zones if the council were to approve the new recommendations.

“We’re having a little difficulty nailing down the specific address,” he said during Mayor Keith Gaskin’s regular press conference at City Hall. “So far the site I went on said, ‘exact location not provided until after booking.’”

All of those owners, even under current code, should have obtained a privilege license to operate, but Wiegel’s office “hasn’t issued a single one.”

No penalties have yet been established for those who violate the new short-term rental rules, if the council approves them, Wiegel said.

Gaskin on Wednesday said short-term rentals were understandably a “hot-topic” issue, and Columbus leaders are looking at guidelines implemented in similar-sized cities, such as Starkville.

There, after months of fierce debate and public input, city leaders decided to nix plans for additional fees or zoning restrictions for those properties, instead requiring only a privilege license.

“Airbnbs are not new in communities,” Gaskin said. “You’re seeing them happen all over the country. A lot of people use Airbnbs in business and in pleasure. Anything … that’s new to a city and hasn’t been the norm always in the beginning causes a lot of confusion and debate. The city is now trying to figure out the best way to handle (it).”

Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard, who moved to table the discussion Tuesday because he didn’t feel the council had enough information to make a decision, told The Dispatch on Wednesday he’s “still researching.”

“We’re trying to be a progressive city and change and bring different ideas and atmosphere into this city. We have to be open to a lot of different things,” he said. “These discussions need to be had.”

While those discussions continue, Thompson has her own decisions to make about her house on Azalea Drive.

“I haven’t figured out whether I’ll sell it, or maybe I’ll just rent it to a long-term tenant,” she said.

Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.