The city of Atlanta’s plans to enforce regulations impacting thousands of short-term vacation rentals — which were approved over a year ago — have been delayed for a third time.
The Atlanta Department of City Planning announced on its website that the enforcement date for the regulations, which apply to short-term rental listings on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO, was pushed from June 1 to Sept. 6.
“It has been determined that the implementation of this ordinance may require further consideration,” the department wrote.
That ordinance was first passed by the Atlanta City Council in March 2021, and requires vacation rental owners to get a permit from the city to operate. But since they were allowed to do so starting earlier this year, a small portion of the total listings in the city had applied for a permit. Enforcement of unregulated units was set to begin April 1, but was pushed back to May, and then June.
One reason for the low application numbers: The new regulation bars non-Atlanta residents from being permitted for a rental in the city, and there is a limit of only one unit in addition to the owners’ “primary residence” for those who do live in Atlanta.
That led to pushback from several local rental owners, who formed an advocacy group as the new rules were set to take effect. The group, the Atlanta Metro Short Term Rental Alliance, said in a statement Monday that it is “pleased that the planning department has agreed to extend the enforcement date. ... We look forward to working with officials to address our members’ concerns with the city’s implementation and interpretation of the STR ordinance.”
In May, the City Council voted to create a “Commission on Short-Term Rentals” to spread awareness about the city’s rules and provide feedback.
The regulations were initially passed in an effort to collect additional tax revenue, maintain a set of rules for the industry and crack down on unruly “party houses” that sparked nuisance complaints from neighbors.
