UPDATE: The Hamilton County Commission pulled a resolution to change short-term vacation rental rules.
Res. No. 424-33 states the following:
“A Resolution amending the Short-Term Vacation Rentals (‘STVR”) Regulations as adopted by Resolution Numbers 423-27, 423-39, and 923-35, by prohibiting the ownership and operation of same within residentially-zoned areas of Hamilton County, Tennessee.”
Commissioners voted to pull the resolution after multiple attempts to amend it. This allows them thirty days to bring the item to the entire board to discuss what to do.
PREVIOUS STORY: Hamilton County Commissioners are on opposite ends of the argument of whether or not short-term vacation rentals or “STVR” should be allowed in residential areas.
“If you’re going to do commercial business. You should do it where commercial business is allowed,” said Hamilton County Commissioner Ken Smith.
Over the weekend, people staying at one of the properties violated county rules by parking on the street and not following quiet hours.
Here are the following rules for STVR’s in Hamilton County:
- Allowed in any zone in Hamilton County except for manufacturing zones
- 14-person limit for a home with five bedrooms
- Must have a sign posted at the front of the property showing an STVR certificate, along with the phone number of the owner or manager of the property, and that person must be able to respond to a phone call within 2 hours
- Cannot make loud noises from the property between the hours of 10pm and 7am
- Pets must be kept on a leash if they are outside
Neighbors were frightened by the short-term occupants.
“Nobody really took it seriously. This was a scary thing. I’m not easily intimidated, but I felt like whenever we saw them taking pictures of our houses, that was an intimidation factor,” said neighbor Jo Peckinpaugh.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office was called twice to respond, but deputies cannot enforce the county rules. They are only allowed to report to the Hamilton County Development Resource Staff.
“I can enforce nothing that is not in TN Code Annotated. Period. Or unless it’s dispensed by a judge,” said Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett.
If three violations are issued against one of these properties, the owner’s permit can either be revoked or not renewed. Legal action would also be pursued. Permits are only good for a year.
Neighbors were also concerned with other actions.
“They would go in, they would come out with a bag. Another guy drove up the driveway, not the six that were here, but the others coming up the driveway, coming out with a bag. Then a third guy went up and came out with a box,” said neighbor Sharon Johnson.
District 11 Commissioner Joe Graham defended the people staying at the STVR at Wednesday’s commissioners’ meeting.
“They shouldn’t have parked in the road. They should have parked in the driveway. That’s the only rule that they broke. The bags that were coming into the house were DoorDash. They were having food delivered,” said Graham.
Johnson said that was not what was going on.
“If they had been getting food deliveries, we would have seen people carrying food in. All we saw were single cars going up there, walking in and going up coming out with a bag or coming out with a container,” said Johnson.
The Director of Development Services Nathan Janeway says this specific location has no prior violations before the weekend.
There is a petition on change.org called “Protect Hamilton County Families: Sign for STVR Regulations & Homeowner Rights.“