Public Hearing: YES ☒ NO ☐ Department: Planning & Sustainability
SUBJECT:
Title
COMMISSION DISTRICT(S): All Districts
Application of the Director of Planning & Sustainability for a text amendment relating to short-term rentals and for other purposes. This text amendment is County-wide.
Body
PETITION NO: D1-2023-1467 TA-24-1246762
PROPOSED USE: Short-term rentals, and for other purposes.
LOCATION: County-wide.
PARCEL NO. : N/A
INFO. CONTACT: Yvonne Trammell, Special Projects Coordinator
PHONE NUMBER: 404-371-2155
PURPOSE:
Application of the Director of Planning & Sustainability for a text amendment relating to short-term rentals and for other purposes. This text amendment is County-wide.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommended Action
COMMUNITY COUNCIL: (June 2025) CC-1: Full cycle deferral; CC-2: Denial; CC-3: Approval; CC-4: Full cycle deferral; CC-5: Approval. (Feb. 2024) CC-1: Full cycle deferral; CC-2: No Vote Taken; CC-3: Full cycle deferral; CC-4: Full cycle deferral; CC-5: Two-cycle deferral. (August 2024) CC-1: Approval; CC-2: Deferral; CC-3: Approval; CC-4: Full cycle deferral; CC-5: Denial. (April 2024) CC-1: Two-cycle deferral; CC-2: No vote taken; CC-3: Two-cycle deferral; CC-4: Two-cycle deferral; CC-5: Approval. (December 2023) CC-1: Full cycle deferral; CC-2: Deferral; CC-3: Deferral; CC-4: Full cycle deferral; CC-5: Deferral.
PLANNING COMMISSION: (July 8, 2025) Two-cycle deferral. (March 4, 2025) Two-cycle deferral. (September 12, 2024) Three-Cycle Deferral. (May 2, 2024) Two-Cycle Deferral. (Jan. 9, 2024) Two-Cycle Deferral.
PLANNING STAFF: Approval.
STAFF ANALYSIS: This proposal introduces a new term and definition. Short term rental is: “the rental of a room, lodging or overnight accommodations for a period not exceeding thirty (30) consecutive days.” This term shall encompass the rental of a vacation home, residential dwelling, guestroom, or other overnight lodging that an owner advertises through a marketplace facilitator such as but not limited to Airbnb.com. Booking.com, Hometogo.com and or VRBO.com. In summary, the proposed regulatory framework consists of the following: • By-right, residential, accessory use (administrative approval) • Annual application submitted to the Business License Division for permit: • Name, address, telephone number and email address of STR agent with 24- Hour contact information. • Application Fee • Business License required • Number and location of parking spaces allocated to the premises • Taxation - 8% This item has been deferred since the January 9, 2024, Board of Commissioners meeting. This is the third draft of the ordinance, released March 3, 2025. Although concerns still remain with this 3rd draft there is strong support for DeKalb County to implement regulations on Short-Term Rentals (STRs). Planning Staff recommends a phased regulatory approach, beginning with the registration, permitting, and taxation of current listings. The specifics regarding the implementation of the of the ordinance, such as posting of the 24-hour contact information or sharing of STR location data, shall be finalized within the implementation window described in the ordinance. Additionally, Planning Staff is collaborating with Code Compliance, Business License and the Solicitor’s Office to address enforcement and licensing concerns. Staff is finalizing a cost analysis to determine the permitting fee, so that it can cover the cost of additional staff and a software management system. Therefore, it is the recommendation of the Planning & Sustainability Department that the application be for “Approval”.
PLANNING COMMISSION VOTE: (July 8, 2025) Two-Cycle Deferral 8-1-0. Commissioner West moved, Commissioner Osler seconded for a two-cycle deferral to the November 2025 zoning agenda. Commissioner Costello opposed. (March 4, 2025) Two-Cycle Deferral 7-0-0. Jan Costello moved, Jon West seconded for a two-cycle deferral to the July 2025 zoning agenda. Winton Cooper was not present for this vote. (September 12, 2024) Three-Cycle Deferral 8-1-0. Jana Johnson moved, Jon West seconded for a 3-cycle deferral to the March 2024 zoning agenda, with the request that the next time this case comes before the Planning Commission, someone from the DeKalb County Legal Department be present. Jan Costello opposed. (May 2, 2024) Two-Cycle Deferral 7-0-0. Jon West moved, Vivian Moore seconded for a two-cycle deferral to the September 2024 zoning agenda, per staff recommendation. (Jan. 9, 2024) Two-cycle deferral 9-0-0. Jon West moved, Sarah Zou seconded for a 2-cycle deferral to the May 2024 zoning agenda.
COMMUNITY COUNCIL VOTE/RECOMMENDATION: (June 2025) CC-1: Full cycle deferral 5-0-0; CC-2: Denial 10-0-0. Community Council District 2 requests stronger quality of life enforcement, public availability of 24/7 contact information, and consideration of limiting short-term rentals to homestead properties; CC-3: Approval 5-4-0; CC-4: Full cycle deferral 8-0-2; CC-5: Approval 5-0-1. (February 2025) CC-1: Full-cycle deferral 3-0-0; CC-2: No Vote Taken; CC-3: Full-cycle deferral 10-0-0; CC-4: Full-cycle deferral 10-0-0; CC-5: Two-cycle deferral 7-0-0. (August 2024) CC-1: Approval (2-1-0) with the following conditions: 1) if the property is rented for 180 days or more, a SLUP should be required; and, 2) the homeowner should complete an affidavit stating they reside at the home full-time and have a homestead exemption. CC-2: Deferral 8-0-0. CC-3: Approval 7-0-1. CC-4: Full cycler deferral 9-0-0. CC-5: Denial 7-0-1. (April 2024) CC-1: Two-cycle deferral 3-0-0; CC-2: No vote taken; CC-3: Two-cycle deferral (12-0-0) to allow for additional time for this item to be vetted and for previous comments to be clarified; CC-4: Two-cycle deferral 10-0-0; CC-5: Approval 9-0-0. (Dec. 2023) CC-1: Full Cycle Deferral 7-0-0. Full cycle deferral, with request that the following feedback be issued to appropriate departments: 1. A separation of a single room STR verse an entire unit STR. A single room STR is more of a hotel. 2. SLUP to inform neighborhood versus notification to the neighbors that a property owner has applied for a Business License to operate an STR. CC 1 felt a SLUP was necessary. 3. Parking regulations per unit. 4. Clear description of penalties and what they apply to as it pertains to taxes and fees - page 5 shows no escalation in offense from your 1st to 5th ($100, $500, $1,000, revoked). 5. Too based upon the “honor system” - how will DeKalb know who is paying for a BL or not, who is tracking that? 6. A portion of the funds should circulate to Staff this appropriately through Business License Department and Code Enforcement. 7. Change language in legal and proper payment to "property owner" or "representative". CC-2: Deferral 10-0-0. Comments included: not enough restrictions, not enough enforcement, and revenue should be allocated to administration of ordinance. CC-3: Deferral 6-1-0. CC-3 recommended deferral until a better draft is crafted which considers information that will be coming from the community via Engage DeKalb, including information on how the proposed tax revenues will be distributed. CC-4: Full cycle deferral 11-0-0. CC-5: Deferral 8-0-0.