The Auburn City Council voted to prohibit short-term rentals in several single-family residential neighborhoods during its Tuesday night meeting.
On February 16, the Council debated an ordinance that would allow short-term rentals in nearly all neighborhood zones while tightening the penalty policy for negative repercussions of poor short-term rental conduct.
In the public hearing, many residents were frustrated with the ordinance because they felt unprotected from the negative effects of short-term rentals that may disrupt the neighborhood ambiance.
“Houses have been moved back into by families with children,” said resident Susan Jones. “It’s becoming that neighborhood community again … That is what the Neighborhood Conservation district was devised to do, and by turning it into game day houses and rentals we are losing that, and we have lost so much of that in Auburn."
Community members were concerned with the spread of short-term rentals that could ensue across the City of Auburn, potentially unleashing various negative impacts on homeowners in certain zones where rentals are allowed.
“In February, the amendment that was offered to the Planning Commission’s proposed ordinance basically removed the cover for the NC zone from commercialization,” said resident Ray Askew. “What concerns me is that when you remove the cover that exists in the current ordinance… you have, in essence, opened a 'pandora’s box' for any commercialization.”
Anders responded to the concerns presented in the public hearing.
“We, as a community, have demonstrated that we can keep these discussions on a high level with respect to everyone’s opinion without resorting to personal attack,” Anders said. “While I believe that the homestay amendment that was made on February 16 was a win-win for everyone, I now believe that that is not the right path for our community.”
Anders moved to amend the short-term rental ordinance back to reflect the ordinance that was proposed by the Planning Commission in October 2020. This would exclude Neighborhood Conservation zones among other zones from short-term rentals.
“I am a strong believer in the sanctity of our neighborhoods, and I know that the NC zoning designation is the best protection all of us have for our homes which are clearly most of our family’s greatest investment,” Anders said.
The amendment was approved at a 5-3 vote, with Ward 7 Council member Jay Hovey, Ward 4 Council member Brett Smith and Ward 3 Council member Beth Witten voting no. Ward 5 Council member Steven Dixon abstained.
Hovey explained why he could not support the Mayor's amendment.
“I contend that short-term rentals aren’t necessarily the evil neighbor that people have portrayed,” Hovey said. “The problem isn’t short-term rentals, it's bad neighbors. And, you’re going to get that in any neighborhood. I do support some sort of resolution of the ordinance tonight, but I just can’t support this amendment. I do want to see homestays throughout the City.”
Smith also expressed his disagreement with the Mayor’s amendment as it protects some neighborhood zones while leaving others susceptible to the negative impacts of short-term rentals.
“If you accept the position that [short-term rentals] are a nuisance and that this is a problem for some neighborhoods but you’re going to vote for it in other neighborhoods, you are treating these like neighborhoods unequally,” Smith said. “You are saying one gets preferential treatment while the other doesn’t. That’s why I couldn’t support the amendment and that’s why I cannot support the ordinance. If you set the proposition that this is destructive and ... a safety issue and you pass this ordinance, you’re saying ‘I’m willing to accept those destructive policies in certain areas of the town, into certain neighborhoods, into certain families, but not others.'”
Witten expressed that she has been “completely appalled” at the way the Council and their constituents have acted while engaging with the short-term rental issue.
“Just hearing the conversation through the public hearing tonight, it echoes this sentiment of elitism that we are this community that doesn’t want ‘that’ in our neighborhoods or we don’t want ‘this’ to impact us,” Witten said. "Yes, we have zoning laws, but let’s not forget that NC neighborhoods, Neighborhood Conservation, speaks to setbacks, and if that is hard to hear, I’m sorry."
Witten spoke against Anders' praise of the community’s conduct during this process.
“I’m not just going to sit back and let the countless disrespectful emails that we have received go unspoken to,” Witten said. “It has been divisive it has been ugly. We act like we are just the most elite community in this country, and we should all embrace each other, and we should embrace each other in our differences and our diversity. We have not shown that through this process and it's embarrassing.”
The amended short-term rental ordinance, which now reflects the previous ordinance proposed by the Planning Commission placing stricter limits on short-term rentals, was approved at a 5-3 vote with Hovey, Smith and Witten voting no. Dixon abstained.
City Manager Megan Crouch explained the work that will need to be done over the next 90 days in order to enact the new ordinance.
The State of Alabama Community Development Block Grant for the Coronavirus program will grant the City $1.2 million in COVID funding. Community Services Director Alfred Davis explained that $750,000 of these funds will be allocated to support the food bank in order to supply them with equipment. These items including delivery vans, coolers, freezers and forklifts. This was unanimously approved by the Council.
$500,000 was also authorized to the Auburn Housing Authority to support the first phase of the redevelopment of the Ridgecrest Housing Community. Executive Director of the Auburn Housing Authority Sharon Tolbert explained that the goal is to revitalize the image of the housing authority homes to transform the ‘institutional’ look of public housing to better reflect a true housing 'community.' The organization will absorb relocation costs for the tenants until the development is complete, as to not displace any families. Later phases will bring other developments such as senior living.
Ward 1 Council member Connie Fitch-Taylor expressed her support of the project.
“To bring in townhomes to look like the rest of Auburn, I just think that is awesome," Taylor said. "This is a start of a new beginning. I think that the residents and the community in Ward 1 are going to be very happy.”
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