The City of Parkville approved its first semi-permanent short-term lodging conditional use permits in the historic district last week.
While four permits were available in the residential area, five applicants were on the agenda Tuesday, Jan. 17, with some aldermen suggesting director of community development Stephen Lachky present all five applications before any decisions are made.
Aldermen were in disagreement about whether five should be allowed, or if fewer than four applications could be approved now and an additional one or two approved within a few months. The conditional use permits are good for one year, after which point city staff would review if the applicant had maintained a business license and remitted hotel taxes to the city as required.
Of the five, two were previously approved for six-month conditional use permits. Both have been remitting taxes as required, but only one has a complete business license. Applications were approved unanimously for short term vacation rental operations at those two properties.
The board then tackled the three applications not previously awarded conditional use permits.
William Benson spoke about his current property, which was already operating as an Air BnB, but he had not been paying guest taxes. He found out about the tax requirement recently and has since filed the paperwork, he said. The city attorney spoke about compliance with the guest tax ordinance and responsibility for back taxes.
Air BnB collects some taxes, but then remits them to the property owner who then is required to give their portion to the city.
Alderman Greg Plumb suggested due to the confusion surrounding the guest taxes, when they started, and who is collecting them, that tax collection requirements should begin with the issuance of the new conditional use permits.
Heather Greenfield sought two permits for two homes. When asked to chose one, because only four permits were allocated, Greenfield said she was attached to both.
After hearing several presentations on the Air BnBs, with owners cheerleading their own properties, mayor Dean Katerndahl said the property owners were missing the point.
“Our problem is – yours are great, and all the others are great, but we don’t want 50 great Air BnBs, because we feel that’s bad for our neighborhoods,” Katerndahl said. “It has nothing to do with your personal properties. We would rather have a long-term family or renter in there than someone every two nights coming in and out. That’s just for our neighborhood.”
Katerndahl said the city already has plenty of AirBnBs and other communities have suffered from a glut of short-term rentals that have changed the character of the community.
Greenfield said because she tried to follow the city’s guidelines she hoped the city would let her keep both homes open for short-term rentals. She noted she had paid back taxes for the past year.
Alderman Phil Wassmer said he was unwilling to change the plans to allow for five considering the program was entirely new.
“So if we vote for five, six will be here next meeting,” Katerndahl said, when Lachky said another potential new applicant had reached out that week.
Wassmer said that homeowners associations are protecting other areas of the city from hosting too many short-term rentals, or prohibiting them entirely. The residential area in the historic district has no such HOA protections those residents are depending on the city to protect them.
First readings for the remaining three short-term rentals were approved, on split votes, with final approval set for Feb. 7.