CLEVELAND — Cleveland City Council has passed new regulations targeting property owners who want to profit from renting out their properties as short-term accommodations through platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo.
The changes, which take effect in about 180 days, come years after the council started discussing implementing such measures.
Some council members argue the regulations address complaints about rentals being "party houses" and creating parking and safety issues that change the character of residential neighborhoods.
Beginning in the fall, owners will need to apply for an annual $150 license, have proof of liability insurance, and comply with occupancy limits per rental that allow for two people per bedroom plus two additional people.
Licenses can be revoked after three nuisance violations or immediately in some cases.
And the legislation puts in place a density limit, reading, "In any residential district, short-term rentals are limited to at least one or no more than 10% of the total residential units on the block or in a multi-unit building, whichever is greater." An earlier version of the legislation called for 15%.
I spoke to Dave Stokley, president of the Northern Ohio Short-Term Rental Association. He also owns a short-term rental management company in Cleveland.
He said he supports most regulations because they weed out bad actors and increase accountability for owners.
"We absolutely 100% support reasonable regulations. Things like registration, licensing, fees, taxes — all that stuff," Stokley said. "And most importantly, accountability for hosts so that they're not creating negative situations for neighbors and cities."
But, he said, Cleveland's density limit doesn't make sense to him.
"I think they figure there's an average of 40 to 50 properties on any given block, which allows four to five short-term rentals, and they thought that was enough. I mean, you can hear right there from that explanation that it's pretty much just an arbitrary number," Stokley said. "To me, that doesn't sound like they've done any research to really understand how many people this is gonna actually affect. And so it concerns me that they're criminalizing behavior when they don't even understand the scope of it or who it's gonna affect. And they're also criminalizing behavior that's generating positive economic activity for the city of Cleveland, which I think we can all agree we kind of desperately need. So, what I'm saying is I would just like to see more research and data behind these numbers when they put them out there like that."
Stokley said he feels the new regulations could unfairly prevent property owners who are already doing business from doing so in the future.
"Sure, I think it will in certain areas, in certain highly populated, but also highly desirable areas where people wanna stay when they come to Cleveland," Stokley said.
When he addressed council before its vote, Stokley said his company has hosted more than 55,000 nights across its properties and has maintained its Superhost status.
He also spoke about the type of people renting.
"We hosted families for funerals who want to be together under one roof ... not scattered across hotel rooms. We host parents coming to the Cleveland Clinic for children who are having surgery and need two weeks somewhere comfortable with a kitchen and space for a caregiver," Stokley told council members. "We host Cleveland residents whose pipes froze in January or whose houses burned down, and they need somewhere to go for a couple nights or a couple weeks. These are the people you’re regulating — forcing them into uncomfortable hotel situations and sending their dollars to international hotel chains, instead of local property owners and local restaurants."
Damon Maloney is a Cuyahoga County and We Follow Through anchor at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @DMaloneyTV, on Facebook DamonMaloneyTV or email him at Damon.Maloney@wews.com.
