Post by High Priestess on Nov 13, 2015 15:22:08 GMT
Louisville political leaders discuss whether Airbnb rentals should be subject to non-discrimination laws:
www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/metro-government/2015/11/12/airbnb-rules-stall-amid-bias-fairness-debate/75656324/
insiderlouisville.com/metro/metro-council-tables-airbnb-ordinance-councilwoman-denton-airing-concerns-housing-discrimination-laws/
From the Courier-Journal:
With a proposed ordinance to regulate Louisville home-sharing operators set to expire at month's end, Metro Council members are debating if short-term rental hosts must abide by anti-discrimination housing laws if they are making their own homes available.
At issue during Wednesday's meeting of the council's Public Safety Committee were a number of unforeseen issues proposed as amendments to the measure, one of which said each separate short-term rental will have to be in compliance with federal, state or local regulations on zoning, safety, building and nondiscrimination laws, such as the Fairness ordinance.
"I think if it's your personal home that you live in that you should have the ability to say who stays there," Councilwoman Julie Denton said. "Now in a perfect world they wouldn't be discriminatory, but I think it's your personal home and you should have the ability to do that."
But Councilwoman Jessica Green said, "As a black woman, a member of two of the most marginalized groups in American history, I do not want people, if we're going to pass this ordinance, people like myself to be prohibited from being able to reside in certain places."
Members of the committee have deliberated for months on how to best supervise the rise of home-sharing rentals through online services such as Airbnb, HomeAway and FlipKey. The council moved to create the regulations after Mayor Greg Fischer's office sent out cease-and-desist letters to short-term rental hosts this year saying they were running illegal lodging businesses.
Denton, R-19th District, said she was mostly worried about more casual short-term hosts who are making personal arrangements and are not advertising using online services, which in many cases do not require a renter to provide information about their race, religion or sexual orientation. She suggested there should be a difference between owner-occupied home-sharing units and those that are not.
"If you have concerns that somebody isn't going to take good care of your home, then I think you should be able to say no they can't stay there," Denton said. "Does this open up for this nondiscrimination part, for that person to claim they're been discriminated against because they may be Asian or African-American or a different sexual orientation, I don't want to open it up to an attorney's right-to-work legislation."
Other members, however, said it was important the so-called Airbnb ordinance affirm that the city's nondiscrimination policies apply.
THE COURIER-JOURNAL
Airbnb ordinance heading for council study
"I think it's a fair thing to say to the owner of a short-term rental that you cannot look at this ordinance and think you're going to be legal so that you could discriminate or so you can say I intend to discriminate or only blacks are allowed or no gays are allowed," said Councilman Bill Hollander, D-9th.
The latest discussion has ignited a debate as to whether hosts' residences should be treated as a business or private property.
Attorney Alex Davis, who is representing more than a dozen Airbnb hosts, said discrimination isn't right, but that protections against bias by in large "don't extend to private entities."
"We have Chick-fil-A that decides they can stay closed on Sunday or Hobby Lobby that doesn't want employees to work on Sunday mornings because they have a faith-based approach, and there are private businesses that choose not to extend services to same-sex couples, that's something that is enshrined in law for the most part," Davis said.
He added none of his clients have articulated a desire to bar guests based on race, gender or other protected classes of identity under city ordinance. "If there's a Fairness ordinance in Jefferson County, then certainly short-term operators should abide by that Fairness ordinance," he said.
Under the short-term rental ordinance, hosts must pay an annual $25 registration fee, make sure the premises have working smoke detectors and create evacuation plans. They also would have to pay the city's transient occupancy taxes.
The Public Safety Committee also debated how close a host must be to their short-term rental unit in case of noise complaints or emergencies, such as a fire. Some members suggested hosts should be given a two-hour window whereas others want a stricter half hour response time.
Possible penalties for hosts who violated provisions in the law, such as providing false information in an attempt to gain or maintain a short-term rental license, included a fine up to $500 and 90 days in jail. Green, D-1st, said that provision was excessive and a waste of law enforcement resources, and sponsors eventually voted to take those penalties out.
According to council rules, members have six months to approve an ordinance after it is first filed, and the short-term rental proposal is set to expire Nov. 30.
Sponsors of the ordinance say they plan to refile it in December.
www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/metro-government/2015/11/12/airbnb-rules-stall-amid-bias-fairness-debate/75656324/
insiderlouisville.com/metro/metro-council-tables-airbnb-ordinance-councilwoman-denton-airing-concerns-housing-discrimination-laws/
From the Courier-Journal:
With a proposed ordinance to regulate Louisville home-sharing operators set to expire at month's end, Metro Council members are debating if short-term rental hosts must abide by anti-discrimination housing laws if they are making their own homes available.
At issue during Wednesday's meeting of the council's Public Safety Committee were a number of unforeseen issues proposed as amendments to the measure, one of which said each separate short-term rental will have to be in compliance with federal, state or local regulations on zoning, safety, building and nondiscrimination laws, such as the Fairness ordinance.
"I think if it's your personal home that you live in that you should have the ability to say who stays there," Councilwoman Julie Denton said. "Now in a perfect world they wouldn't be discriminatory, but I think it's your personal home and you should have the ability to do that."
But Councilwoman Jessica Green said, "As a black woman, a member of two of the most marginalized groups in American history, I do not want people, if we're going to pass this ordinance, people like myself to be prohibited from being able to reside in certain places."
Members of the committee have deliberated for months on how to best supervise the rise of home-sharing rentals through online services such as Airbnb, HomeAway and FlipKey. The council moved to create the regulations after Mayor Greg Fischer's office sent out cease-and-desist letters to short-term rental hosts this year saying they were running illegal lodging businesses.
Denton, R-19th District, said she was mostly worried about more casual short-term hosts who are making personal arrangements and are not advertising using online services, which in many cases do not require a renter to provide information about their race, religion or sexual orientation. She suggested there should be a difference between owner-occupied home-sharing units and those that are not.
"If you have concerns that somebody isn't going to take good care of your home, then I think you should be able to say no they can't stay there," Denton said. "Does this open up for this nondiscrimination part, for that person to claim they're been discriminated against because they may be Asian or African-American or a different sexual orientation, I don't want to open it up to an attorney's right-to-work legislation."
Other members, however, said it was important the so-called Airbnb ordinance affirm that the city's nondiscrimination policies apply.
THE COURIER-JOURNAL
Airbnb ordinance heading for council study
"I think it's a fair thing to say to the owner of a short-term rental that you cannot look at this ordinance and think you're going to be legal so that you could discriminate or so you can say I intend to discriminate or only blacks are allowed or no gays are allowed," said Councilman Bill Hollander, D-9th.
The latest discussion has ignited a debate as to whether hosts' residences should be treated as a business or private property.
Attorney Alex Davis, who is representing more than a dozen Airbnb hosts, said discrimination isn't right, but that protections against bias by in large "don't extend to private entities."
"We have Chick-fil-A that decides they can stay closed on Sunday or Hobby Lobby that doesn't want employees to work on Sunday mornings because they have a faith-based approach, and there are private businesses that choose not to extend services to same-sex couples, that's something that is enshrined in law for the most part," Davis said.
He added none of his clients have articulated a desire to bar guests based on race, gender or other protected classes of identity under city ordinance. "If there's a Fairness ordinance in Jefferson County, then certainly short-term operators should abide by that Fairness ordinance," he said.
Under the short-term rental ordinance, hosts must pay an annual $25 registration fee, make sure the premises have working smoke detectors and create evacuation plans. They also would have to pay the city's transient occupancy taxes.
The Public Safety Committee also debated how close a host must be to their short-term rental unit in case of noise complaints or emergencies, such as a fire. Some members suggested hosts should be given a two-hour window whereas others want a stricter half hour response time.
Possible penalties for hosts who violated provisions in the law, such as providing false information in an attempt to gain or maintain a short-term rental license, included a fine up to $500 and 90 days in jail. Green, D-1st, said that provision was excessive and a waste of law enforcement resources, and sponsors eventually voted to take those penalties out.
According to council rules, members have six months to approve an ordinance after it is first filed, and the short-term rental proposal is set to expire Nov. 30.
Sponsors of the ordinance say they plan to refile it in December.