To BNB or Not to BNB? | City council may take reins with new rules for home stays

A month after adopting rules for short-term rentals at Lake Gladewater, council members are considering a second set of regulations to cover home-based overnights throughout the rest of the community.
They’d be taking on a significant amount of work in the process: as written, the elected officials will review each short-term rental (STR) in open session and make the final call.
According to the draft ordinance up for consideration July 16, would-be hosts must first attain a Specific Use Permit (SUP) from the city. Current STR owners will have 60 days to apply for a permit; the ordinance allows them continue operations until the application is granted or denied.
In addition to signing on to a list of standard operating procedures and stipulations, the application process requires an official fire/safety/health inspection of the home. Once that’s complete, the request will be considered by the local Planning & Zoning Commission, which includes notification of all property owners within 500 feet ahead of discussion by the appointed board.
The proposed regs are included in the agenda packet for Thursday night’s 6 p.m. council session at Gladewater City Hall. Find the document here and below.
The P&Z (and, ultimately, council members) review other specific use permit for things like RV parks and food truck lots. Per the new ordinance, the city’s elected officials will evaluate the individual impact of any Airbnb, VRBO or similar operation, including “compatibility” with surrounding properties and “to ensure the appropriateness of the use of at a particular location.”
If approved as-is by council members, a person who wants to utilize their home for a short-term rental must agree to an occupancy cap (two persons bedroom plus two more) and vehicle limit, proof of insurance of $100,000, 24/7 emergency contact rules and various fees, among other requirements.
Specific Use Permits (SUP) are non-transferrable – if a home approved for an STR is sold, the new owner would be require to get their own permit. Permits would have to be renewed every 12 months after passing another inspection.
If adopted, the new guidelines will become Chapter 15.12 of the community’s code of ordinances:
“The city desires a friendly, mutually cooperative, and successful relationship between its residents and its short-term rental owners, many of whom are one and the same. It is the purpose of this chapter to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare of individuals and the community at large: to provide reasonable means to mitigate the impacts created by occupancy of short-term rental units: and to implement rationally-based, reasonably-tailored regulations to protect the integrity and quiet enjoyment of the city’s neighborhoods.”
The ordinance includes procedures to field complaints, request corrective action and to revoke permits, if necessary. Three substantiated cumulative complaints in one 12-month period would trigger a suspension of the permit and a re-hearing before the P&Z.
Violation of the proposed regulations would be a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine (ranging from $250 to $750 per day) and/or revocation of the STR permit.