Overview
- The City Council approved the moratorium on first reader, moving a proposal that would halt new licenses for non-owner-occupied properties for 12 months.
- License renewals would continue, and owner-occupied homes remain eligible for new short-term rental permits under the proposal.
- Sponsors say the pause is intended to quantify the city’s roughly 500 short-term rentals and tackle reports that about half operate without licenses.
- Short-term rental owners and some aldermen criticized the plan as punitive and ineffective against illegal operators, and a fiscal note pegs potential lost revenue at about $103,500.
- The push comes after an October law set a 10% per-block cap on short-term rentals beginning in November 2027, with a raffle system for oversubscribed blocks.