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NEW ORLEANS - During today's meeting, the Special Governmental Affairs Committee passed Ordinance 33,351 authored by Councilmembers Jared Brossett and Kristin Gisleson Palmer to create a fund to enforce short-term rental legislation. The ordinance will now go to the full Council for a vote during its regular meeting on Thursday, October 7.
“We owe it to our constituents to enforce the short-term rental laws that have been on the books for the last two years,” said District “D” Councilmember Jared C. Brossett. “We passed targeted legislation in 2019 to strengthen the permitting, monitoring, and enforcement process for short-term rentals, but the longer we go without enforcement, the more we disrupt local neighborhoods and drive people out of their own homes. We are already experiencing an affordable housing crisis, and the rise of short-term rentals has only exacerbated that. It’s time we put the needs of our residents and our neighborhoods first.”
Since joining the Council, Councilmember Brossett has expressed concerns about the way short-term rentals have negatively impacted the character of New Orleans' neighborhoods. In 2016, he submitted the lone vote against the Council's first attempt at short-term rental legislation citing it was insufficient in controlling the unpermitted and unregulated conversion of valuable neighborhood housing stock into short-term rental units.
“There are millionaire property developers all over this city whose whole business model is running illegal Airbnbs in the middle of our neighborhoods. This is a warning to anyone who thinks they're going to get rich by breaking our laws: don't do it," said District "C" Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer. "We may not find you this month or even this year, but we will find you, and you will pay up for breaking our laws, and it starts with ensuring our short-term rental office has the funding it needs to crack down on illegal short-term rentals."
Now that the Council has passed progressive legislation relative to short-term rentals, enforcement will be key. If passed by the full Council later this week, the proposed ordinance will spur more effective enforcement of the short-term rental laws on the books and help preserve the unique culture of New Orleans neighborhoods.
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