This is the City Talk column by Bill Dawers, a longtime contributor to the Savannah Morning News.
The impacts of short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) have been a topic of concern and debate in Savannah for many years.
In 2016, Elizabeth Becker, author of “Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism,” said largely positive things about the city’s handling of tourism during three days of appearances. Among other observations, she lauded the process that resulted in the rejection of becoming a port for cruise ships, which was probably never a viable possibility for several reasons, and the city’s proactive management of STVRs.
“Savannah is going in ahead of the game,” Becker said at one appearance.
Even at the time, however, it felt like Savannah was struggling to get a handle on the ongoing tourism boom, especially the steady creep of STVRs. The city capped the number in residential areas at 20% of the parcels in each historic ward, which might sound like a reasonable restriction, but readers should look at the map of registered STVRs.
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Take special note of the more residential areas of the Landmark Historic District and the Victorian neighborhood. There are a dozen STVRs on one block of East Perry Street near Crawford Square, for example, and a dozen on a single block of East Park Avenue.
The concentration of STVRs has contributed to the “hollowing out” of historic neighborhoods, as one resident told this newspaper in 2022. Tourists are obviously people, but they aren’t residents and aren’t neighbors.
The proliferation of STVRs has also put upward pressure on home prices for some types of properties and has reduced the number of available apartments, which has contributed to the region’s well-documented need for more housing and to the ongoing affordability crisis.
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New apartment complexes in the downtown area are absorbing some of that demand, but the price points are high.
STVRs have obviously had other effects. Some homeowners, investors and STVR management companies have made a lot of money. The availability of short-term rentals has also supported various sectors of the downtown economy, especially the vibrant restaurant scene and destination wedding business.
STVRs in Savannah have also brought a lot of joy to visitors and burnished the city’s reputation for hospitality. Those impacts cannot be quantified, but their importance should not be dismissed.
The current city administration has shown little appetite for making significant changes, but the local inaction contrasts with the shifting legal and political landscape in destination cities around the country.
A federal judge recently ruled in favor of new restrictions in New Orleans that are considerably tighter than those in Savannah. A new law in New York City seems likely to reduce the number of STVRs and perhaps spur the creation of more in outlying areas with looser regulations.
Closer to home, officials in Athens are wrangling with new limits on STVRs, including a two-year sunset clause that seems likely to violate Georgia law.
A new ordinance backed by a majority of the Tybee Island City Council would terminate STVR permits in residential areas when homes are sold.
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It seems inevitable that Savannah’s elected officials will face increased pressure to enact new restrictions on STVRs. Having given Mayor Van Johnson and other incumbents a big win in a divisive election in 2023, many voters are now expecting more action on issues that led to the wave election four years earlier, including the need for affordable housing and more effective tourism management.
If the mayor and other council members are serious about making good on those promises, they should direct city staffers to craft a new STVR ordinance that will make effective but incremental changes.
Bill Dawers can be reached via @billdawers on Twitter and CityTalkSavannah@gmail.com.