Supervisors legalize short-term rentals, with conditions

Henrico County’s Board of Supervisors last night legalized short-term rentals in the county but did so with a number of conditions. Although it has technically been illegal for anyone to rent properties in the county on a short term basis through platforms such as Airbnb and other similar websites and apps, about 175 to 300 such listings have appeared on a monthly basis anyway.

Now, those rentals will be legal in certain cases and require special conditional use permits in other cases. In every case, the owners of each rental property will have to pay a $200 annual registration fee to the county and an 8% lodging tax for each stay (a fee that hosts will add onto the rental costs).

That fee is the same one required of hotel and motel operators in the county already. Henrico officials said they felt it was only fair to apply the same fees to short-term rental hosts to create a level playing field.

The new regulations will take effect July 1. They will allow by right short term rentals at any residence in a single-family housing district (on land zoned R0 through R4A or A-1), so long as those properties have at least 80 feet of road frontage and are not rented to more than six people at a time. The owner of the property also must live at the property 185 days a year or more and must be present during the rental.

Property owners who want to rent their homes for more than 60 days a year, or to more than six people at a time or who don’t want to be present during rentals must seek conditional use permits from the county – a process that would require a $300 fee and would allow input from neighbors to be considered by the Board of Zoning Appeals before a decision is rendered.

The county has not sought to punish any short-term rental hosts to date, even though the rentals have been illegal in Henrico, and it won’t immediately begin fining those who are in violation of the amended ordinances once they take effect. Rather, they intend to use a grace period to educate violators initially about the new regulations and consider enforcement if the violations are repeated in the future.

The regulations would impose 12 requirements on short-term rental hosts, including limiting the number of total renters permitted to double the number of bedrooms in the home; requiring that at least one of the renters be an adult; and requiring at least one guest parking space for each available guest room in the house, among others.

Eight people spoke during the board’s public hearing last night – six in opposition to the proposals.

RoseMarie Young, who operates five Airbnb homes in Henrico that have hosted more than 1,000 guests, said that the amendments would hurt not only tourism in Henrico but also other local businesses.

“I can tell you that Airbnb brings people to Richmond and it helps people love Henrico County, because when they ask me ‘What are the fun things to do when I come to your town?’ I tell them," she said. "I tell them about our really great restaurants, I tell them about the awesome museums and parks that we have to enjoy and the great stores. People ask me about thrift stores and breweries and coffee shops, and I tell them and I point them to locally owned businesses.

“But our Airbnb also supports other small businesses. We have multiple housekeepers, we have landscaping companies, we have pest-control companies – they’re all local businesses. We work with local stores and local designers and local contractors to take care of our properties, so it’s supporting small business – a lot of small businesses.”

Another speaker named Shannon told the board that she works as a housekeeper for local Airbnb properties and talks regularly with renters. Their feedback has her convinced that far fewer people will rent homes if they know that they owners will be present during their rental.

“It’s definitely going to put people like me out of a job,” she said.

The ordinance amendments were recommended by the county’s Planning Commission following a two-year process during which planning officials spoke with a variety of stakeholders – including short-term rental hosts, neighbors of such renters, community associations, hotel and motel operators and others – about the topic.

Deupty Henrico County Attorney Andrew Newby told the board that the regulations were designed to prevent against the rare troublesome rentals while still permitting hosts to engage in rentals legally.

“Most Airbnb hosts are extremely responsible and run their businesses excellently,” he said. “But the fear is the party house, the fear is 50 people show up, the fear is 25 people show up. And we have had it happen, and it does create problems for the neighbors – very serious problems. And so some line was drawn – six [renters] or less, no problem, you don’t even need a permit, go ahead and do it. More than six, come see us, come bring the neighbors in, let’s talk.”

The county expects to receive about $50,000 annually from the registration fees paid by short term rental hosts but likely won’t make a profit on that revenue, county officials have said, since that money will be used to pay the vendor who is handling registrations and to cover annual building inspections. Most of the 8% lodging tax will be funneled to the Greater Richmond Convention Center, which receives such revenue from all metro localities.

Brookland District Supervisor Dan Schmitt said that while he supported the ordinance amendments, he would be open to amending them even further in the future if necessary.

“This is a good thing for folks who want to conduct this business and do so legally,” he said. “It’s a good thing for neighborhood protection, but like anything else we do over the years and years this county has been here, we can, will, always get better - always. And the conversations that we’ve seen here tonight, those conversations will continue.”