Northampton passes resolution opposing bill that would exempt short term rentals from local regs

The Northampton County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution at Tuesday night’s work session calling on Senator Lynwood Lewis to withdraw his sponsorship of a bill that would exempt short term rentals, also known as AirBNBs, from local regulations so long as they were managed by a licensed Virginia Real Estate Broker.

SB1391 removes a county or town’s ability to enforce an ordinance against short term rentals where the ordinance prohibits short-term rentals, limits occupancy in a short-term rental property to less than what is allowed under the building code or local zoning regulations, limits the number of days in a calendar year for which a short-term rental property can be rented or requires an owner to occupy the short-term rental property as his primary residence for any number of days in a calendar year. It also prohibits remote monitoring devices, inspections to no more than one every fives years, among others.

The resolution read in part “Northampton County believes the enactment of such legislation would violate the property rights of Northampton citizens and eliminates the County’s ability to manage this housing option for its residents, which is lawfully allowed through the County’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance… the Northampton County Board of Supervisors opposes SB 1391 and would respectfully request that Senator Lewis cease his sponsorship of same.”

Rural localities have experienced an issue in the supply of workforce housing over the last two years, and some have laid the blame at the feet of short term rentals, saying houses that normally would have been monthly rentals for working families have been converted to weekly vacation rentals, crunching supply.

“This bill could lead to a lot of unintended consequences,” said Supervisor Betsy Mapp.

Senator Lynwood Lewis responded in part by saying “What this legislation does do is ensure that short term rental properties that are managed by licensed realtors – who are regulated by the Commonwealth and must follow a specific code of ethics and conduct or risk losing their license – are able to operate safely and successfully and without some of the significant overreach that has happened recently. It ensures that properties that are exempt from the eight items listed in the Bill are operated by licensed professionals who are required to be responsive and available to their properties and to short term tenants. Licensed realtors who are regulated by the Commonwealth and a part of a community have every incentive to make sure that these short term rental properties are used responsibly.”

His full statement can be read here.