Rebecca Ragsdale – C-VILLE Weekly

What’s wrong with Airbnb? Homestay hosts wonder why county’s pushing new regs

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That seemed to be the overall consensus of community members who spoke up at a crowded January 8 roundtable to discuss potential “homestay” (read: Airbnb) regulations in Albemarle before they go before the planning commission in February.

County staff members say many local homestays aren’t following existing regulations, and in addition to trying to enforce those they’re proposing even more new rules. But residents say these aren’t necessary.

“We are looking to regulate an issue that’s not a big enough issue for us to be investing the time,” said an Old Trail resident and realtor speaking from her seat. She said she has clients on both sides of the argument about whether the county should further manage these types of transient occupancies. “I try to be Switzerland, but I’m also about less regulation and less government involvement in my life.”

For popular homestay sites such as Airbnb, several folks argued that business regulates itself through a guest rating system.

“You live and die by your reviews,” said one attendee. Added another: “Let good old business take place, and it’s going to fall out on its own.”

The second man was perturbed by a seemingly arbitrary 45-day limit the county wants to impose on whole house rentals. The county is also proposing that whole house rentals may only take place where the dwelling is situated on more than five acres, and any rental on a smaller property will be limited to two guest rooms.

He said he inherited a 75-year-old family property. To only be able to rent the whole house for 45 days a year greatly restricts his profit margin.

Amelia McCulley, the county’s director of zoning, attempted to clear up some confusion. Homestay owners with rentals on properties greater than five acres can rent rooms for an unlimited number of days per year, just not their entire houses. Outside of the 45 day limit, an owner or manager must also reside on the property.

That was also a point of contention for some of the 75 attendees, who filled every chair at the meeting.

“Renters tend to be a little more subdued if there’s a responsible party nearby,” explained chief of zoning Bart Svoboda.

One attendee then said that he’s been renting a property he lives only 15 minutes away from. He said he’s had no problems. “We’re there every day, we just don’t sleep there.”

Besides requiring the owner or manager to live on-site, the county only allows homestays to operate in single-family detached homes and only five guest rooms may be rented. Those in favor of not imposing more regulations pointed out the small number of complaints the county has received.

Approximately 350 results turn up on Airbnb for Albemarle County—but it’s difficult to determine whether they’re actually in the county, or just nearby. The county has processed 134 applications for homestays, and senior planner Rebecca Ragsdale says they’ve received 33 related complaints since 2012.

Asked one man at the meeting, “Shouldn’t there be hundreds of complaints and issues if this is a real issue?”

The planning commission will hold a work session on the proposed regulations February 12.

Ready to regulate: Albemarle eyes homestays

In Albemarle County, about a third of the homestays are flying under the radar. At a May 3 Board of Supervisors work session on the topic, county staff said something must be done to regulate them.

The county has received 60 applications since 2004, and of those, 27 have been approved, according to Rebecca Ragsdale, the senior permit planner in the county’s Community Development department. Take a look at Airbnb, and more than 100 options in the county are listed.

“A fair number of applications came in just recently and are still under review or were denied because smoke detectors were not up to date,” she says, and adds that applications are not approved until building code, fire marshal and health department requirements are satisfied.

Currently, homestay operators in the rural and development area may rent up to five rooms inside a single-family detached home with an owner or manager also occupying the home. In the rural area, residents can rent up to five rooms in an additional structure.

Ragsdale says the county is concerned for a number of reasons and as some supervisors pointed out at the work session, it’s an issue that should be addressed now before the gap between those in compliance and those operating illegally widens.

“Fairness [and] equity issues have been raised in terms of taxation,” she says. “If these homestays are not licensed, there has been no verification that basic safety requirements are met.” This includes up-to-code smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors and compliance with health department requirements.

Carolyn McGee, president of StayVA and owner of The Inn at 400 West High in the city, says unregulated homestay owners should be required to follow even the smallest regulations.

“If you’re going to serve alcohol, you can’t just leave a bottle of wine with a bow on it. You have to have an ABC license,” she says. “As a B&B owner, that’s what we have to do.”

In the last General Assembly session, a bill was passed to give localities the autonomy to regulate their own homestays, though many already do.

Numerous industry professionals and StayVA members sat in the gallery while the bill was signed, she says. “We’re happy with it.”

At the work session, Supervisor Norman Dill suggested the county define a minimum for what counts as a business. “You’re allowed to have a yard sale without having a business license,” he says, and plenty of people rent out their houses for UVA’s graduation weekend. Do they technically need a business license, he asked. “Why encourage people to break the law because it’s difficult to comply?”

Dick Cabell owns The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm, one of approximately 20 full-time bed and breakfasts in the city and county, all of which have business licenses and collect and remit transient occupancy taxes.

“As a B&B owner, I don’t want to be vindictive about this because we chose to go the route we did and we have benefited from it and we think we have provided some benefit as part of the team,” he says. “This Airbnb thing is a whole different concept and now the county is in a quandary.”

But Cabell says the playing field should be leveled so he can continue to compete with the unregulated homestays.

“Our business has gone down in the last three years, but not in a way that we’re going to go out of business,” Cabell says. “I just can’t donate as much to my grandkids’ college funds. I can’t take my trip to Jamaica because my income as gone down. The guy next door to me who’s renting his house out and not telling anyone—he’s going to Jamaica.”

The BOS will have a public hearing June 14 to discuss regulating homestays.