A sign against short-term rentals in East Dallas. Photo by Emil T. Lippe.
The Dallas City Council is expected to vote on regulations for short-term rentals Wednesday.
Proposed regulations as recommended by the City Plan Commission include an ordinance regarding the registration process for the properties, which include Airbnbs and Vrbos, along with a change to the zoning code. STRs, which are rented for less than 30 days consecutively, would be defined as a lodging use and disallowed from operating in single-family neighborhoods.
But the council has something else to consider: a recommendation from city staff.
At the June 7 council meeting, a few members asked staff for a formal recommendation on regulating STRs. Though some council members said it wasn’t needed, City Manager T.C. Broadnax directed his staff to prepare a recommendation.
In a memo released June 9, staff from the city’s Planning and Urban Design and Code Compliance Services recommend that zoning should not be used to address STRs.
“This recommendation is based on the assertion that the major concerns related to STRs are operational and would be best managed through a registration ordinance enforced by Code Compliance Services,” according to the memo.
STRs would be allowed by right in all districts under the staff recommendation, and registered and regulated through the proposed ordinance.
In the memo, staff also provide proposed amendments for an alternate to the CPC recommendation, which adds properties zoned multifamily to the list of zoning districts where STRs would be allowed by right.
Dallas has spent years trying to figure out what to do with STRs. Read more about the struggles here.
