HAMPTON, Va. — Short term rentals (STRs) continue to be a hot topic in Hampton as earlier this week, the council passed regulations that would split the city into zones to avoid overcrowding.
City officials say Hampton is divided up in 51 zones. The council limited the number of STRs that can legally exist to only 1% of the housing units in each zone.
Watch: What are new restrictions on short-term rentals in Hampton?
Areas like Phoebus and Buckroe attract many STRs, so the new regulations ensure they are more spread out.
“It was important that we do that so we didn’t have them clustered in one or two particular areas,” said Bobbie Brown, director of community development.
Brown said a backlog of applicants spurred guidelines.
Watch: Hampton city council discusses density, operation of short term rentals in the city
“What we're experiencing is we had 60 or so apply and we know there are many more in the community that are operating who have not applied, we know there are over 400 short term rentals operating in the community that don’t have a permit," said Brown.
Julenn Keeling, an AirBnB Superhost in Hampton, says the future of current STRs is troubling.
"None of us really know which of the units will be able to keep going and which ones will have to find alternate ways or if they’ll be able to operate at all,” said Keeling.
Watch: Record number of Americans, including some in Hampton Roads, struggling to pay rent
Responsible hosts welcome regulation, as it gives them a rules to go by. However, she says she's the new regulations will work, especially the density cap only being 1% for each zone.
“It may hinder the city to attract bigger events and bigger venues to come, because where do we put the people," said Keeling.
Current regulations state there must be a 500 foot buffer in between STRs, however, there is discussion to lower that to 300. The new regulations will start September 1.
