The Milton City Council has gone on the record opposing state legislation that sides with property owners who offer their homes on Airbnb, VRBO and other short-term rental sites.
The council approved a resolution asking Milton’s legislative delegation to oppose House Bill 523 as currently drafted. The bill would bar local governments from prohibiting short-term rentals or treating them differently from long-term rentals.
“While HB 523 would allow the regulation of such short-term rentals, the bill implies (if not directs) that no local government can ban them entirely in any district,” according to a memo to the council by City Attorney Ken Jarrard.
In his opinion, Jarrard said, the prohibition is unconstitutional, as the power to zone “is assigned by the Georgia Constitution to cities and counties, and … the General Assembly does not have the power to repeal or restrict this power.”
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