VRMA Administrator
The Chattanooga, Tennessee, City Council may soon consider altering the city's existing rules on short-term rentals that could include caps on density, with the looming expiration of a moratorium on rentals not occupied by owners. The current rules stipulate that people interested in setting up a nonowner-occupied short-term rental must submit an application to the Land Development Office. Officials send notification letters to all owners within 300 feet of the property, and if a certain number of objections from nearby homeowners is filed with the office, the council holds a public hearing to approve or deny the permit. Owner-occupied short-term rentals face a less strict review process. Councilman Chip Henderson said residents often complained at these hearings that the increase in the number of short-term rentals was changing the character of their neighborhood; since more and more applications were coming from out-of-town investors buying property to convert into short-term rentals, neighbors also feared this saturation was driving up home prices. "I think that we will at least wind up with something that addresses density in an area," Henderson said. "In my estimation, I don't see us just completely prohibiting nonowner-occupied [short-term vacation rentals], but I do see us perhaps regulating the density."
Chattanooga Times Free Press (09/24/22) David Floyd
