Senate Bill 197, a bill that would prevent any city in the state from prohibiting short-term lodging in residential areas, is moving with lightning speed through the legislature. The bill filed on Feb. 6 was approved by the Senate last week.
“Last week, the Senate meeting room was full of people who owned rentals,” Berry wrote. “The Municipal League and a couple of others were the only ones to speak against it. The bill has been slightly amended, but still almost entirely restricts a city or town’s ability to regulate short-term rentals. It’s important for Representatives to know the issues you are facing with short-term rentals.”
Sen. Bryan King [R-Green Forest] said he was surprised when SB 197 was passed recently by an overwhelming margin and with little debate. King said he believes it is the right of city governments to make local decisions regarding zoning and intended to protect property values and the rights of residents.
King said he doesn’t think legislators are aware of the potential negative impacts of the legislation. He said if SB 197 passes, he expects the legislature will be asked to rescind it in a couple of years when people see the harm it has done.
“The whole state needs to know that any home next door can turn into a STR party house under this proposed law,” Eureka Springs resident Gwen Bennett said. Bennett is a long-time proponent of protecting residential neighborhoods from commercial encroachment.
Lamont Richie said he doesn’t know of another city in Arkansas that will be as negatively affected as Eureka Springs.
“Can you think of any other city that has as many tourist facilities in residential areas as we do?” Richie, a former Planning Commission chair and former justice of the peace, said. “We are not Bella Vista or Rogers or Mountain Home. They are not like each other. This one-size fits all approach of 197 is inadequate to address the varying needs of towns across the state.”
Richie said he has zero sympathy for those who have been clamoring for a bill like this. Those who chose to buy property in Eureka Springs knew or should have known since the city’s zoning code is public information, what restrictions affected their land.
“Who knows better what is needed in an incorporated area but the locally elected and appointed officials whose job it is to look after the health, safety and welfare of those residing therein?” Richie said. “Is profit now the only thing that matters?
“It seems so since the state legislature is speeding ahead with a bill that says, unequivocally, people have a right to do as they please with their property… in effect, their neighbors be damned. For those who desire to capitalize on this, they will see some new revenue. But for the rest of us, all that we’re likely to see is an increase in the number of strangers on our streets.”
Richie said SB 197 has been a gut punch to the very concept of zoning that he has believed in since he first studied to be a lawyer.
“Zoning is intended to be a reflection of the community it governs,” Richie said. “Now it is about to become a reflection of those in power, with monied-connections, devoid of any input at the local level… except maybe to require a permit to operate. While the bill is a legal document, the consequences of it are going to be disruptive emotionally.”
Some owners of tourist lodging have expressed concerns that they have played by the rules investing in tourist lodging in commercially zoned areas, and now could face large amounts of new competition that would cut into their profit and decrease their ability to maintain their properties.
Revenues were already down this winter for some properties, possibly in part because weather, but also to an increasing number of new short-term lodging properties in commercial areas.
The bill is currently in the House committee.