VRMA Administrator
A Gulf Coast developer wants Biloxi, Mississippi, to rethink an ordinance that disallows short-term rentals on any single-family residential-zoned property, arguing it would prevent properties such as his from being damaged by long-term guests. The developer said the damage could have been avoided if he had not been forced by the ordinance to turn his Airbnb into a long-term rental property. On Sept. 15, the Biloxi Planning Commission will consider an overlay project that will permit short-term rentals one block north of Highway 90 that would include areas zoned as single-family residential. "Short-term rental is very popular if you're in walking distance to the water's edge whether it's the Gulf or the bay or the rivers in north Biloxi," said Jerry Creel, Biloxi's director of community development. "But once you get further away from the water, short-term rental is not quite as popular. So, we're trying to do some things to accommodate short-term rental and maybe open the door for it to be more accepted in areas that we feel like traffic should not be a problem." Among those residential areas that Creel suggested could be less restrictive are those on "cut-through" roads that already have heavy traffic.
WLOX-TV (Biloxi, MS) (09/08/22) Mike Lacy
