Common Council votes down moratorium

The council, which needed eight votes to override the mayor’s veto, failed in a 7-4 vote at the Common Council meeting Tuesday at City Hall, 520 Warren St. The result prompted applause from a handful of people in the audience.

The failed proposed law would have prohibited anyone from leasing or renting out their homes for 30 or fewer days. The goal of the moratorium was to give city officials time to establish regulations for short-term rentals, officials said.

The limit would be placed on one owner per property/building, not per unit. Any current rentals grandfathered in would be nontransferable if the property is sold after the law is in place.

The vote came as something of a surprise. Four aldermen, Eileen Halloran and Dominic Merante of the 5th Ward, Rich Volo of the 4th Ward and Rob Bujan of the 1st Ward, who voted to send the bill to the mayor’s desk for his signature, voted against the legislation Tuesday.

After the resolution to override the mayor’s veto had failed, 4th Ward Alderman John Rosenthal vowed to reintroduce the new bill in the new year under the next Common Council and Mayor-elect Kamal Johnson.

“It just makes me more determined to get something done,” Rosenthal said, adding that it was ridiculous.

Before the vote, Rosenthal made one last pitch to fellow council members to support the legislation he has championed. He said he has been interactive with the public to draft the legislation during a Legal Committee meeting.

The legislation was not just about housing but creating a fair economy, Rosenthal said. Similar communities around the world are struggling with the same issues surrounding short-term rentals and how to regulate them. Rosenthal was especially concerned about property owners who buy up apartments for the sole purpose of turning them into short-term rentals, taking valuable housing stock off the market, and then those owners are not subject to the same safety regulations as hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. Rosenthal encouraged fellow council members to “do the right thing.”

Bujan, the first to vote, said he supports short-term rental regulation, but did not support the moratorium.

“I think it is incredibly important to get it done [legislation to regulate Airbnb],” Bujan said. “We were in office 24 months ago. We’ve been speaking for six months about a nine-month moratorium, and I just think procedurally, if we don’t have this moratorium in place, we can perhaps get that legislation done [for regulations] sooner.”

Merante, the only alderman to attend the mayor’s public hearing, said there were good arguments on both sides of the debate made during the hearing. He also was concerned about the new Common Council and new attorney next year and said he preferred the city focus on sidewalks, which the Department of Justice has said need to be fixed to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Before casting his vote against the override, Volo said he was concerned about the loss of potential tax revenue from new short-term rentals and the city’s dwindling fund balance. He said there was no economic study to assess the proposed law’s impacts. He also expressed confusion as to why the short-term rental regulation, a first draft of which was introduced in July, has not been completed.

“I don’t understand, just pass the law [on regulations],” Volo said.

Volo’s comments prompted retorts from Rosenthal, who sat in the chair beside him. “You voted for it the first time,” Rosenthal said. Volo replied: “Well, things have changed.”

“It [the proposed law] is fair and not some knee-jerk reaction,” Rosenthal said.

DePietro voiced disappointment that the legislation did not pass.

“Sadly, my vote won’t get us the override,” DePietro said. DePietro called the process in crafting the short-term regulation law the most open in the history of the city.

“Now certain councilmen who will not be with us in the future have decided we have too much democracy,” DePietro said. He was referring to Volo and Bujan, who will not be on the council next year. Volo lost the race in the 4th Ward and Bujan lost his bid for Common Council President.

To reach reporter Amanda Purcell, call 518-828-1616 ext. 2500, or send an email to apurcell@thedailymail.net, or tweet to @amandajpurcell.