KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After three years of discussions and forum, the city has passed an ordinance regarding short-term rentals.
One of the restrictions in the ordinance is that multi-family properties that have three or more units can only list 25 percent of the units as short-term rentals.
Lance Pierce, the owner of Karate Vacation Rental Management, said his property on Mcgee will be impacted by the change.
Pierce renovated the triplex specifically to create short-term rentals. He currently has all three units listed on Airbnb but when the ordinance takes effect this summer he will only be allowed to rent out one.
The ordinance will also require owners to get approval from neighbors.
“55 percent of neighbors on either side of the property agree to have the Airbnb there,” said Pierce.
If neighbors don’t approve, the person hoping to list a property as a short-term rental can ask the city for a special use permit.
We spoke to a few of Pierce’s neighbors who say they would approve the property. One neighbor says Pierce seems to have done everything by the book.
But Mary Thompson has had a different experience.
"I think there definitely needs to be regulations because there's so much that can go wrong,” said Thompson.
The two units next to Thompson’s apartment recently became short-term rentals.
Thompson showed us the listings on Airbnb.
At first, she was open to the idea, but that quickly changed.
"People started coming in and having really large parties, it was really loud in the middle of the night, people were parking in my parking spot,” said Thompson.
Thompson said at one point a stranger wandered into her apartment.
She has since contacted the owner of her building and there have not been new short-term renters for a few days.
Pierce said he is glad the ordinance will help with problems like that.
“I think this ordinance goes a long way in registering every Airbnb and then allowing any complaints that come in to be able to pull that license if hosts aren't operating them correctly,” said Pierce.
The ordinance also bans type 2 short-term rentals from areas zoned R7.5 and R10. Those areas are mostly single-family homes.
