One of Wilmington’s newer hospitality industries is growing fast and yet remains without regulation.
 
Short-term rentals, most commonly available through Airbnb, VRBO and Craigslist, are still not regulated under the Land Development Code in the city, because only in recent years has this specific form of lodging experienced consistent, rapid growth. 
 
In January, the city council began exploring the rules regarding short-term rentals in the city, and have been discussing policy ideas with leaders from other cities across the state ever since.
 
On Monday, the council heard from representatives from three such cities – Asheville, Raleigh, and Cornelius, North Carolina – on how they regulate short-term rentals. All three communities are ahead of Wilmington in formalizing regulations for the management of short-term rental properties.
 
“Short-term rentals are not directly addressed in the city of Wilmington Land Development Code (LDC),” explained city planner Bethany Windle, “rather the city must apply the current code language as written some time ago, when short-term rentals were not as prevalent.”
 
Asheville began wrestling with this issue in 2013 as complaints rose in residential areas that people were renting out their houses for weeks at a time to less than desirable tenants. There were frequent noise complaints, and issues with parking and traffic.
 
That city adopted new regulations in November.
 
“We started getting a lot of complaints in 2013,” said Shannon Tuch, a senior planner in Asheville who addressed the Wilmington City Council on Monday morning. “We engaged in a two-year public discussion to get to the new regulations.”
 
A year ago, Tuch said, the Asheville City Council drew the line. “No short-term rentals in residential areas,” she said.
 
For Asheville, that policy has worked. Similar policies now exist in Cornelius, just outside of Charlotte.
 
Travis Crane, a planning and zoning administrator for Raleigh, was also in city council chambers Monday to discuss the short-term rental challenge. He’s been working on a solution for two years.
 
He explained that his department has presented two versions of a short-term rental ordinance to Raleigh's city council, but neither were adopted. “So we sent it back to staff for a third attempt,” he said.
 
He’ll be back in Raleigh on Tuesday night presenting that third version.

Wilmington City Council has again asked planning staff to put together more recommendations for a short-term rental policy that the council can they review in a public work session this fall.