LOUDONVILLE — Property owners interested in turning their homes into Airbnbs, Vrbos or other vacation rentals must go through the Loudonville Board of Zoning Appeals for approval.
Councilman Tom Young said at the village council meeting Monday evening that it’s time for council to get involved to help regulate the amount of approvals.
Young described the process for the board being fully responsible for approval or denial as “a little sketchy.”
“We’re getting too many of them,” Young said.
Village Administrator Garret DeWitt said the board does not have guidelines dictating how it approves or denies vacation rental requests.
“A lot of times, they feel like they don’t have a legit reason to deny based on the guidelines that have been set forth,” DeWitt said.
Councilman Matt Armstrong noted he has looked at other communities that have regulated the amount of Airbnbs.
Those regulations come in the form of a cap on the amount allowed in the village limits, a registration fee and providing the board a rubric to follow for approvals and renewals.
The rubric would ask questions, such as:
- Did the applicant fill out the application correctly?
- Does the vacation rental fit in the neighborhood?
- Have there been violations or complaints on an existing rental?
Armstrong suggested rental properties have to come to the board for renewal of their listing every year.
If properties have issues, the board does not renew the property, therefore opening up to another applicant, if the cap has been met.
Armstrong used 25 Airbnbs as an example. There are currently 22 Airbnbs listed in Loudonville, according to fiscal officer Jenny Wade.
“People in town are saying there’s no place for people to live because there’s so many Airbnbs now,” Councilman Bill Huffman said.
Council plans to set up a future zoning and planning committee meeting to discuss how to implement these regulations for council to later approve.
In other business
Ashland County Commissioner candidate Burton Williams came to introduce himself to council. He said he wants to team up with council to promote economic development and tourism.
He said he has “general ideas,” but wants to hear from council about how they think commissioners could be more involved in Loudonville.
A Loudonville resident, who lives on Pearl Drive and did not share his name, came before council and said, “I’d like to know what it would take to get our neighbors to get their crap cleaned up.”
The man showed council a photo of cockroaches on his property, which he claims are a result of his neighbor’s property.
The man said in 35 years, he has never had a problem with roaches, and now he must pay $500 for an exterminator to fix the problem.
Loudonville Police Captain Sean Gorrell said the neighbor has already been penalized with a fine, and the department then found he was in compliance will village ordinances.
The neighbor has been served another notice to clean up the yard. Village Solicitor Thom Gilman said if the problem gets bad enough, the village can sue to declare the property a nuisance, so he will look into the property more.
Gilman said the village successfully declared two properties nuisances last year.