Joelle Lang-Fredman
WMAL.com
ARLINGTON — (WMAL) Efforts by the Arlington County Board to make short-term housing rentals safer are underway this month.
Board Chair Libby Garvey said that the discussion around short-term housing rentals, made popular with companies such as Airbnb, has recently been raised by the community.
“We’re really hearing from our residents, saying that they basically want and need some sort of structure or regulations to deal with the new form called home sharing,” Garvey said.
Some residents are complaining that the home-sharing is disturbing the community, while others want to know how they can legally rent out rooms.
“We are hearing both from people who have complaints, that their neighbor has got people coming going and can they do that and should they do that, and we also are hearing from people who are saying, I would like to rent out a room or whatever- how do I do that,” Garvey said.
Some of the regulations that the board wants to put in place include capping the amount of guests to rent one home at six people, and requiring that county inspectors check home for safety violations at least once a year.
Garvey said that the regulations are meant to insure the safety of both the community members and visitors, and to set in place a standardized process in which home owners can rent out their homes.
“We’re looking to reduce the barriers for those who want to use their homes as short-term rentals in a legal and responsible way, and we want to protect the character of our neighborhoods and insure public safety as well,” Garvey said.
The Arlington County Board will decide to whether to begin advertising their proposed changes to the short- term housing rental process Saturday and welcome public opinion on their website. If approved, public meetings will be held on the subject in November, prior to a second board meeting in December.
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