Birmingham — The city will enact a stricter code for regulating short-term rentals following a shooting at an Airbnb last month.
Birmingham will require short-term rental owners to submit an application that expires on April 15 annually, includes inspections and requires police to identify on a montly basis short-term rental properties in police reports and record which properties required their intervention, according to a memo from city attorneys to City Manager Jana Ecker.
The recommendations follow a 180-day moratorium on new short-term rentals that commissioners recently enacted. The moratorium follows the April 11 shooting that stemmed from a party at an Airbnb property in the 1400 block of East Lincoln Street. The property’s short-term rental license has been revoked by the city and the company.
“Just because someone didn’t die that morning doesn’t mean we’re not hurt. We’re bleeding,” said Narlu Castellano, who lives on East Lincoln Street across from the former rental property. “My child is not well. She’s still traumatized. She’s still (asking), ‘Is it safe? Can I walk outside?'”
The recommendations come one week after Birmingham residents and Commissioner Brad Host pushed to ban short-term rentals. Host was the commission’s lone vote against a moratorium.
In addition to the stricter application requirements and police records, city attorneys said short-term rental landlords will have to fill out an annual application. Police also will meet with code enforcement officials and the city building official on a monthly basis to review complaints over rental properties.
Mayor Clinton Baller said the requirements will be a shift from a “customer service” approach police have taken with short-term rentals.
“They would issue a notice of violation, and that would be corrected, and things would move along,” said Baller. “Well, things are going to change. Going forward, when the police are called out on a matter that involves a potential violation of the law at any rental, but especially short-term rentals, they will do their work, but they will also notify the Building Department and code enforcement, who will then follow up.”
City Attorney Mary Kucharek said the consequences of a building code violation are a civil citation, which carries a fine. She said infractions are lower than a criminal offense.
Host recommended adding fees in the hundreds of dollars if police, Fire Department or Building Department show up to a complaint even if there’s no follow-up.
“We need to make these penalties for bad actors as costly as we can,” said Host.
Kucharek said the threat of license revocation might be a more effective way to limit problems at short-term rentals.
“You’ve asked us to identify everything we can do, and we’ve done that. We will continue to find more things that we can do,” said Kucharek.
While Baller touted the strengthened enforcement mechanisms, he said the city will have residents be their “eyes and ears” when it comes to short-term rental dwellers who create problems.
“You’re the ones who live right next door to these rental properties, and we’re going to rely on you to some extent,” said Baller.
mbryan@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Birmingham will enact stricter regulations for short-term rentals
Reporting by Max Bryan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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