PLANO, Texas — Plano is inching closer to a plan to regulate short-term rentals. Planning and Zoning will hear recommendations from a special task force that was put together six months ago.
Sources tell WFAA that the task force is made up of people on both sides of the issue.
The recommendations expected to be heard by Planning and Zoning Monday night include:
- All short-term rentals must be registered with the city.
- Current short-term rentals from before the interim ban will be grand-fathered in.
- There will be specific rules for 1-room rentals/ Bed & Breakfast (2-5 br) rentals, vacation rentals, and seasonal rentals.
"We're really looking at how we want to regulate this land use. It's really a fresh start in how we look at things," said City of Plano Director of Planning Christina Day.
These recommendations come after months of public meetings and contentious discussion. The discussion over short-term rentals was first brought up more than two years ago after several high-profile crimes occurred at short-term rental properties. Sources tell WFAA the recommendations from the task force came with consensus but were certainly not unanimous.
"One of the recommendations that came out of the task force was that people who lived in the home and host out of the home were seen as significantly different than as people who lived outside the home," said Day.
Bill France is with the Neighborhood Coalition, he's also on that task force. He says his group is concerned about the large, loud, unsupervised, parties that pop up in neighborhoods that sometimes cause 'havoc.'
"We have always said we don't have an issue with short-term rentals, we have an issue with where they are," France said.
He says they've made concessions to make these recommendations legally achievable and congruable. France tells WFAA that what the coalition would really like to achieve may be an uphill climb.
"We don't want any new short-term rentals in our residential neighborhoods," said France.
The city has divided short-term rentals into three categories:
- 1 room
- 2-5 bedroom rentals
- Vacation rentals
According to the map provided by the city of Plano and to be introduced Monday at the Planning and Zoning Commission there is a large swath of area where one-room rentals with live-in management are allowed.
The same can be said for the Bed and Breakfast 2-5 bedroom rentals, but mostly with a special permit. Counter to that there is a large swath of area in Plano for vacation rentals, where the rental manager is off-site, is not allowed.
WFAA is waiting to hear back from the Plano Short-Term Rental Alliance. The Collin County Area Realtors did provide the following statement:
“Collin County Area Realtors (CCAR) understands the complexities of Short-Term Rentals and is profoundly sympathetic to the variety of experiences of homeowners. Our own members are homeowners, real estate professionals, and members of our community who have varying experiences and opinions regarding Short Term Rentals. To that end, the Association has always and will continue to value and prioritize the safety of our community, while recognizing the delicate balance between freely exercising one’s property rights and undue encroachment upon another’s."
Plano's Planning And Zoning Commission will likely vote on these recommendations by April 1. The city council will then likely take up the issue on April 22. All before the interim ban deadline happens on May 15.