DC's Zoning Commission Requests Guidance Before Changing Short-Term Rental Regulations

• October 29th 2018

by Nena Perry-Brown

Last week, the DC Council sent a letter to the Zoning Commission asking the body to amend the zoning code to permit short-term rentals in residential zones in DC. On Monday night, at a brief special public meeting, the Commission voted to request recommendations on how to proceed from the Office of Planning.

The requested rule change comes as a bill sits pending in the Council to create a regulatory structure for short-term rentals in the city. The Short-term Rental Regulation and Affordable Housing Protection Act of 2018 would, among other things, give Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs oversight of these rentals, which would theoretically enforce current prohibitions on short-term rentals based on zoning. 

It is estimated by the city's Chief Financial Officer and others that zoning regulations, which prohibit short-term rental use in residential zones, would eliminate up to 90 percent of existing short-term rentals. While a final vote on the aforementioned bill was delayed so the councilmembers could comb through how payment for the bill's implementation is accounted for, waiting for guidance from the Office of Planning calls into question whether zoning rules will be amended before the bill passes.

The Council will take up the short-term rental bill again November 13th.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/zoning-commission-requests-guidance-before-changing-short-term-rental-regul/14631.