Short-term rental regulations proposed

Ordinance changes that would legalize short-term housing rentals in Henrico County and establish a procedure for homeowners who want to list their properties for such rentals could advance to the county's Board of Supervisors by next month.

Following a public hearing Jan. 10, the county's Planning Commission will consider one change, which would amend the county's existing zoning ordinance to permit short-term rentals (which currently aren't legally allowed). A separate ordinance would create a registry for such properties and a process through which homeowners could add their properties to it.

Though they're technically not permitted to rent their residences on a short-term basis, Henrico homeowners did so more than 5,000 times through the popular Airbnb platform in 2018, according to the company. Airbnb is considered the most popular short-term rental website, allowing renters to connect with potential guests.

The 5,100 Henrico Airbnb rentals ranked the county 18th among Virginia localities in rentals on the site. Henrico was 19th in total revenue generated through those rentals ($559,000). Statewide, nearly 750,000 guests rented the 10,200 Virginia properties listed on Airbnb, spending about $104 million to do so.

Henrico's new ordinances, if approved by the Board of Supervisors, would regulate short-term rentals in a manner similar to the way businesses must obtain business licenses, according to Ben Blankinship, Henrico's planning division manager of code administration.

Homeowners likely would be required to submit an application and pay a one-time fee to have their homes added to the county's registry of short-term rental sites, he said, adding that additional fees or taxes are unlikely.

Henrico officials have moved deliberately through the ordinance change process, delaying it several times to solicit and consider public input and then to contract with a company whose software can track and manage short-term rentals.

They found the latter last month, formalizing an agreement with Texas firm Bear Cloud Software for the implementation of its STR Helper software, which will scan national and local listing sites and cross-check any county listings with those registered with Henrico officials.

Henrico will join Charleston, South Carolina; Minneapolis, Minnesota; New Hanover County, North Carolina; Aurora, Colorado; Sacramento, California; and Montgomery County, Maryland as localities to use the software.

Once new ordinances take effect, homeowners will be expected to know that they must register their properties if they intend to list them for short-term rentals, Blankinship told the Citizen – but those who don't likely won't be penalized initially. Rather, officials would use that as an opportunity to inform them about the registration process, he said.

According to Airbnb's 2018 statistics, Henrico outpaced Louisa County (2,900 rentals and $350,100 in generated income), Hanover County (2,200 rentals and $240,700 in generated income) and Chesterfield County (which was not among the top 40) in number of rentals through the site.

Arlington County was the top-ranking locality in the state on Airbnb, with nearly 57,000 rentals that generated $10.8 million for their owners, according to the website.

Henrico officials have not penalized property owners who are listing their homes for short-term rentals, but they have responded to complaints about noise and other activities at some of those sites, Blankinship said.

Next week's Planning Commission meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Room at the county's Western Government Center. A draft version of the proposed ordinance that the commission will consider will be available on the county's website at henrico.us/planning this week.