sa国际传媒官网网页入口

It was d茅j脿 vu for Carl Vidal when he, joined by over 15 other people, signed up to speak during an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 City Council meeting in early September.

Vidal came to speak against a bill aimed at tightening restrictions on short-term rentals. He owns and operates almost 30 of them in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, where he鈥檚 lived nearly his entire life.

鈥淓very time these bills come up, I have to stop focusing on my business, which is not the most profitable business in the world. We鈥檙e a very small business,鈥� Vidal said. 鈥淲hen I have to divert my attention from that to trying to keep our industry viable, it鈥檚 very hard.鈥�

Short-term rentals are units rented for 30 days or fewer at a time.

The bill sought to 鈥渆ncourage the repurposing of existing properties into more long-term housing鈥� in select portions of the city鈥檚 center 鈥� Council Districts 2 and 6 鈥� by barring new permits to any short-term rental within 330 feet of another one. Existing permitted rentals would not have been affected. Those districts include some of the city鈥檚 most visited areas, such as Nob Hill, Old Town and Downtown. The bill acknowledges that most short-term rentals in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 are in these areas.

It was voted down 6-3.

In 2020, the city passed regulations on short-term rentals, requiring them to have permits, only allowing two adults per bedroom overnight, limiting gatherings to a maximum of 20 people and not allowing a short-term rental to record more than three violations of city ordinances or state statutes a year or their license would be revoked.

鈥淲e actually did compromise with the City Council and the mayor鈥檚 office in 2020 when they introduced the current legislation that allows short-term rentals and puts limitations on occupancy, makes people get a permit and subsequently gets three strikes and you鈥檙e out,鈥� Vidal said. 鈥淭hat legislation in 2020 was a compromise by the short-term rental community.鈥�

鈥楴滨惭叠驰颈蝉尘鈥�

Of the three votes in favor of the newly proposed short-term rental regulations, two came from bill sponsors Joaqu铆n Baca and Nichole Rogers, who represent Districts 2 and 6, where the restrictions were supposed to take effect. The third vote came from Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, who sponsored a similar bill put forth by the mayor鈥檚 office the previous year.

鈥淧rimarily it鈥檚 a housing issue and one of the biggest barriers to that is NIMBYism. Just to be blunt,鈥� Baca said. 鈥淚 was on the Development Commission before this, and every housing project gets fought by some group. It doesn鈥檛 matter whether it鈥檚 a market rate, affordable, what have you, everything gets fought by people.鈥�

NIMBY, an acronym for 鈥渘ot in my backyard,鈥� describes people who take issue with developments in close proximity to their property.

A couple of key differences in the bill proposed this year was that it included no cap on rentals within the two districts and was also limited to sections of just two districts, not the entire city.

The bill put forth in 2023 also looked to limit the entire number of short-term rental permits issued by the city to 1,800 and limit the number per person to three.

鈥淣obody was going to lose a permit. I think there was a lot of misinformation on that,鈥� Baca said. 鈥淪everal of the folks in the audience during the last council meeting thought that they were going to lose their permit, or that there was going to be a cap on the number of short-term rentals.鈥�

Permits, which cost $120 up front and can be renewed annually for $90, are a point of tension between councilors and operators. While the city requires short-term rental operators to obtain a permit, some do not.

While Vidal said he has permits for the properties he rents, he questions the need for them.

鈥淚 abide by the laws for the properties that I own, and all of my personal properties are correctly registered, and I do pay my taxes and everything else. I am a law-abiding citizen,鈥� Vidal said. 鈥淚 personally question the legality of making someone get a permit to rent their house under 30 days, when you don鈥檛 need a permit to rent your house beyond 30 days.鈥�

One similarity between the two bills is the one put forth in 2023 also failed on a 6-3 vote. Council President Dan Lewis voted against both bills.

鈥淚t was misguided, and these kinds of bills have unintended consequences. They might have the right intentions, and the intentions are creating more housing Downtown, when in fact, it has the opposite effect,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 proven that if we limit Airbnbs and people鈥檚 property rights to do what they want to with their property, then it lowers the availability of housing space Downtown in that area, and it increases the demand for hotel space, which there鈥檚 already a limited amount of hotel space.鈥�

A found that 鈥渞estricting Airbnb is not going to be an effective tool for solving the housing-affordability problems in many U.S. cities.鈥�

鈥淣o city in the history of the world has ever regulated itself into prosperity,鈥� Lewis said.

Looking to northern neighbors

sa国际传媒官网网页入口 wasn鈥檛 the only city that slapped regulations on short-term rentals in 2020. Santa Fe did as well, capping the number of rentals on residentially zoned properties across the city at 1,000 along with a 50-foot buffer between units.

It was a promise that s, Carol Romero-Wirth, .

鈥淲hen I first ran about six and a half years ago, I was going door to door. One of the biggest things I heard was constituents saying that their neighborhoods had been ruined. They didn鈥檛 have neighbors 鈥� they had vacationers who came and went, and it wasn鈥檛 really a neighborhood,鈥� Romero-Wirth said.

Like sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 ordinance, Santa Fe鈥檚 took effect in 2021.

鈥淭he problem we have is that we鈥檙e trying to balance interests,鈥� Romero-Wirth said. 鈥淲hen people travel, they do look for Airbnb and VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) options, and we want to have those. But we don鈥檛 want them to be overrunning the city and ruining neighborhoods and cutting into our housing stock.鈥�

While the city of Santa Fe hasn鈥檛 amended its original ordinance, the county has .

On Jan. 9, Santa Fe County commissioners voted 4-1 to pass an ordinance that most notably limits owner-operators of short-term rentals to two properties and caps short-term rentals if they go above a certain percentage of the housing stock of certain neighborhoods 鈥� , depending on the community.

鈥淎ccording to the Santa Fe County Affordable Housing Plan that was adopted in 2023, there is a housing shortage of 17,000 additional housing units needed between 2022 and 2025 to accommodate existing employees and residents,鈥� Olivia Romo, spokesperson for Santa Fe County, said in a statement.

ABQ鈥檚 housing supply crisis

sa国际传媒官网网页入口 needs 15,500 new housing units for people making less than 30% of the area median income, according to the city鈥檚 Health, Housing and Homelessness department spokesperson, Connor Woods.

鈥淪hort-term rentals are contributing to a reduced supply of long-term housing,鈥� Woods said. 鈥淎lthough the proposal didn鈥檛 pass, we appreciate discussions on all options to make more housing available in our city.鈥�

In 2022, Mayor Tim Keller launched the Housing Forward plan with a goal to subsidize 5,000 housing units by 2025. Woods declined to answer on how many affordable units had been added as part of the initiative.

Keller became mayor in December 2017. Since 2018, Woods said, the city 鈥渉as financed more than 1,200 affordable housing units. Two hundred new units were financed over the last year alone, a record number for our city. In addition, the city has invested about $94 million in affordable housing, and we鈥檙e continuing to leverage every dollar to build more affordable housing.鈥�

Keller told the Journal in an interview for another story the initiative would fall short on its goal to add 5,000 units due to hang-ups in the Legislature and City Council. The Housing Forward plan still has a section dedicated to short term rentals.

鈥淭he City recognizes that the STR industry contributes to tourism and economy. But a healthy housing market is crucial to a healthy economy. As our local population grows and the housing crisis intensifies, establishing a reasonable limit is a crucial and fair measure,鈥� the webpage said.

A study from this year estimates there are over 2,300 people experiencing homelessness in sa国际传媒官网网页入口. At hosted by , a commercial real estate development association in September, Keller said that the city estimates 5,000 people are unhoused.

Evan Schuster, a local real estate agent who has lived in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 for 38 years, owns and operates an Airbnb in the Oso Grande neighborhood in the Northeast Heights. He is converting another property in the Northwest Ventana Ranch neighborhood from a long- to short-term rental.

鈥淚t鈥檚 more profitable. I mean ... nobody would do it if it wasn鈥檛,鈥� Schuster said.

Schuster said his support, or lack thereof, for a ordinance 鈥渄epends,鈥� but he leans toward 鈥渇ree property rights and letting the market dictate what where the demand is.鈥�

鈥淗ere鈥檚 the bottom line: You鈥檙e going to lose short-term rentals over the next few years anyway. They鈥檙e going to go down because it鈥檚 going to be driven by the market, and a lot of these owners aren鈥檛 going to be able to hold on,鈥� Schuster said. 鈥� I鈥檝e already sold some short-term rentals for clients where the market is just adjusting.鈥�

Schuster also said that the issue of housing availability is largely due to dwindling construction rates since the housing bubble burst in 2008.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not because people are turning homes into Airbnbs. I mean, I鈥檓 not saying that鈥檚 not a small portion of it, but that鈥檚 not the major reason that there鈥檚 a housing shortage,鈥� he said.

While his proposed bill to amend short-term rental restrictions and the one a year earlier from Keller鈥檚 administration both failed, Baca, said he鈥檒l be putting a similar bill forward again.

鈥淚t was always going to be a heavy lift, because it failed 6-3 last year. And the current makeup of the council is probably a little bit more conservative than the last council that said the lack of housing, available housing in the city, really is one of our biggest issues,鈥� Baca said.

鈥淭his will come up again. Maybe it鈥檚 after the next election cycle when it passes, but it is something that has to keep happening, because these issues are affecting our entire city, and NIMBYism is part of the problem.鈥�