Vacation rentals are making waves among homeowners on Lake Gladewater, spurring City Hall to launch a closer look at local leases.
Following up on complaints from long-term residents about the short-term stays, Gladewater City Council members earlier this month discovered about a dozen active listings on platforms like AirBNB and VRBO.
The question now is what regulations will the city apply if the rentals are permitted to continue.
“Let’s face it, what we’ve got going on right now is a little bit out of control,” council member Kevin Clark said. “At the risk of speaking out of turn, I don’t think that is what we intend Lake Gladewater to become.”
All shoreline lots are city-owned and leased to residents on the artificial lake, constructed in the early ’50s to serve as the community’s primary water source. At first glance, the standing leases prohibit sub-letting properties. Rules also restrict how many leases can be held by any single entity – according to still-developing information, multiple properties may currently be in violation of that provision.
(Notably, there are at least two sets of similar rules currently in the mix – city staffer will rectify which apply, per city codes, ahead of the council’s next session Oct. 16.)
“My question is, are they operating a business in a residential area?” South Lake Drive resident Mike Atkins said. Addressing council members during the public comments portion of their Sept. 18 meeting, Atkins says two short-term rentals nearby are choking the road and causing disturbances: “We have loud parties. I’ve had problems getting to my house. People walk in my yard in the middle of the night.
“They ask, ‘Am I trespassing?’ I said, ‘Well, you’re standing in my driveway, I guess you are.'”
Ken Colyer expressed similar concerns, regularly navigating around unfamiliar drivers.
“My cameras are picking up a lot of traffic at night,” Colyer said, choosing not to speculating on why. That said, “Is the property zoned residential or commercial? If it’s commercial, is a business license required?” If so, have any been acquired? Are taxes being paid? “That’s income to the city. You’re not getting it.”
Per City Treasurer Meghan Foster, City Hall has not received any Hotel Occupancy Tax from rentals at the lake. There’s no codes on the books (yet) that require it.
“This is a new generation issue. It is falling into our laps,” Mayor Brandy Flanagan said. “There is nothing on the books because it wasn’t there before.”
Simply put, it’s residential area, Flanagan added.
“I do think it is a worthwhile thing for our council to come up with a solution that makes our residents that live out there the number one priority,” she said. “We need to do what we need to do make sure the people who live out there feel safe in their homes.”
After researching the issue, council member Milton Anderson said he, too, thinks the city needs to bring its attorney into the discussion to determine the best path forward.
“We do have a mechanism in the current lease: ‘Lessees shall not assign his rights under this lease.’ I think we do need to consult counsel, but that includes subleasing.”
Gladewater Fire Chief & Lake Warden Mike Simmons questioned whether the short-term rental properties are compliant with building codes, i.e. fire suppression systems. Among a myriad of new questions, it’s also unclear where liability would fall if, for example, a visiting boater collided with the lake dam or caused other damage.
Council member William Blackmon suggested the city could consider permitting such operations case-by-case.
Gladewater Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Anna Conlan weighed in from the audience, encouraging the council to consider short-term rentals throughout the community.
“I don’t think it’s just restricted to the lake. I think you should look at whether you want them downtown,” she noted. “From a tax perspective, it does fund some things that are happening in the city. Maybe we should regulate it instead of getting rid of it.”
Per Flanagan, “I have an issue with it when it tramples on our residents here.”
Regulation would allow for restrictions, the mayor agreed, aimed at preventing out-of-control parties like the one that occurred at an empty lake house in July. It would also ensure rentals are ‘paying in’ to the city coffers.
Granted, “The lake is not here for us to turn a profit on, necessarily. It is for our residents,” Clark said. “I appreciate that other people want to come in and enjoy it, but it is an amenity. More importantly, it is our water supply.”