FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The City of Fayetteville approved the funding of a temporary "short-term rental enforcement" position while the city faces both a housing crisis and a lawsuit over regulations on short-term rentals.
During its May 21 meeting, the Fayetteville City Council approved the creation of the job, but it was up to the council to decide if the budget is acceptable.
In the original May memo, city employees said 240 of its 737 monitored short-term rental (STR) listings lacked a business license.
"Councilmember interest was expressed for proactive enforcement of the STR ordinance's requirements and prohibitions," according to city employees. "These standards range from a life-safety inspection and tax verification to locational allowances and illegal operation."
According to the agenda for the city's Aug. 6 council meeting, city employees were asking for approval to post the six-month short-term rental enforcement position at an estimated cost of over $41,000, which includes salary and benefits.
"If approved, the position will be posted for hire. Recent trends in unlicensed listings indicate increased activity [at] the beginning of the University of Arkansas school year and its associated sports calendar," said one Fayetteville employee in the meeting agenda.
Currently, Fayetteville's STR regulation is enforced on a "complaint basis," according to the city.
The city ultimately approved the new $41,000 six-month position during its Aug. 6 meeting.
"I heard from individuals who wanted them to be more heavily regulated," said Councilmember Sarah Moore. "[We are] trying to meet the needs of giving property owners some ability to do different things with their properties, but also balancing that with the fact that we're in a housing crisis."
Councilmember Teresa Turk said this position is important for the safety of people who travel to the city.
"We lack an enforcement personnel staff to be able to go out and actually describe and evaluate and confirm that we have about 250 to 300 illegal, non-permitted short-term rentals within the city," Turk said. "One of the reasons we need them to be regulated is they are a business, and we do require a safety inspection. We want to make sure that visitors that are staying here are safe."
Councilmember D'Andre Jones said as the city is facing a housing crisis, a new position to help regulate will be a step in the right direction.
"When these short-term rentals are taken off the market, it takes away from citizens wanting to rent. And so that's a big problem," Jones said. "It does create a shortage."
"[We're] making sure that we do have an appropriate amount of short-term rentals that are able to accommodate their citizens and the community, but also not negatively impacting our citizens quality of life," Jones added.
Moore said she hopes this will help protect the integrity of the neighborhood feeling in areas where short-term rentals are popping up.
"Just harming the integrity of a neighborhood and losing some of that charm and character and just that sense of community in Fayetteville," Moore said. "We can build that incredibly woven fabric that's so important to Fayetteville residents."
The position's job requirement information was not immediately available on the city's website. 5NEWS has reached out to the city to learn more and will update this article as more information becomes available.
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