VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – A committee appointed by the City Council will study short-term online house rentals, like those offered on Airbnb and similar sites.
The City has been wrestling with Airbnbfor more than a year. The city doesn’t specifically permit the rentals, but it doesn’t exactly forbid them either. Bob Matthais, the assistant to the city manager said while the city is losing more than $200,000 in taxes annually, he’s more concerned about the health, safety and welfare of the renters.
The City Council says they’re also concerned about the effects of online housing rentals on residential neighborhood, including parking, traffic and noise. They say state legislature is also studying the effects and could vote on regulations in early 2017.
The committee will meet on Monday, October 3 at 6 p.m. in the City Council chamber of City Hall.
Virginia Beach residents are invited to share their thoughts at the meeting.
The Ad Hoc Committee on Online Home Sharing Economy is set to make recommendations to the City Council at a meeting October 11. A public hearing and vote on the issue will be held at the October 18 meeting.
For more information on the issue, visit the topic page on VBgov.com here, or contact Assistant to the City Manager Robert Matthias at (757) 385-8267 or rmatthia@vbgov.com.
