Meeting cancelled, item on first-ever short-term rental rules removed from agenda

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SECOND UPDATE MONDAY Sept. 16 — Quorums and required legal advertising dates combined to delay the regular Thursday morning Peachtree City Council meeting at which short-term rental rules were to be considered for adoption.

The council was short of a quorum for the morning meeting and the required legal advertising had specified the morning session. The move to an evening meeting fixed the quorum shortage, but necessitated removing the proposed changes to zoning rules about Airbnb-like rentals until the changes can be advertised with the correct time of meeting.

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UPDATE Monday afternoon —  Oops! A regular meeting gets cancelled, and one big item disappears from the agenda for the special called Peachtree City Council meeting  — called by Mayor Kim Learnard — set to begin at 6:30 p.m. this Thursday.

The new special called meeting agenda at the old meeting time of 6:30 p.m. omits what was on the now-cancelled 9:30 a.m. agenda: the vote on short-term rental rules for all homeowners in Peachtree City. So, bottom line: morning meeting moves to same-day but evening meeting, and a big item disappears from the agenda.

Below is the original story that tells what the council was going to consider, but somebody changed their minds. We’ll let you know what we hear about why the big change.

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If you’ve been renting out a room or your entire house without worrying about rules and regulations, your life is about to change this week.

After many months of back and forth among City Council members, city planning staff and the city’s Planning Commission, the council looks ready to adopt the city’s first-ever short-term rental ordinance this coming Thursday morning.

The proposed ordinance adds seven pages of text to the city rule book, and if it passes, you will have 60 days to apply for the required permit. That is, if your rental unit or house falls within the maximum amount allowed — 1% of all homes inside Peachtree City.

Oh, and by the way, although nobody is grandfathered in automatically, “priority permitting” is available for current STR owners. The permit is good for one year and must be renewed each term.

And for the first time, violations can cost you from $500 to 1,000, and at worst, taking the permit away from you.

The new STR rules allow rentals up to a maximum of 30 days and require a local “agent” to be available to be on site at the rental within one hour. Off-street paaved parking will be mandated and the following will be forbidden: Sub-leasing and parties or special events.

A permit — if you qualify — will cost you $400, renewal $300.

The graphic below shows the summary of STR rules under consideration this coming Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall.

1 COMMENT

  1. I read this story after the second update was published. From the initial story to start and finished with the second update.

    To be blunt, this seems like an attempt at a “gotchya” article that the author was dying to post. Upon taking the time to actually research this situation (simply a lack of a quorum) the author realized this was a mater of procedure.

    My gosh this website has been in a tail spin since Sam passed. I used to check the Citizen daily, now its occasionally weekly.. and only for a post other than Steve Brown’s diatribes.