Engagement and Innovations in Short Term Rental Regulations

Short-term rentals are a type of transient lodging that have gained popularity as a land use and business model in New Orleans and across the United States. They have become an important part of many cities’ tourism economy, providing new sources of revenue for residents and businesses, but generating negative impacts where they operate without a permit or create nuisances. Attempts to regulate them can be divisive, often leading to difficult-to-administer codes and legal challenges.

Presenters discuss their work, which focused on disseminating project information and gathering input. The spectrum of input opportunities provided key feedback needed to propose appropriate recommendations. The outreach analysis suggests it is a nuanced, complicated issue citywide, that it is not easy to regulate, and that regulation cannot be approached with a “one size fits all” mentality.

The project offers clear, unique, mutually exclusive definitions for each type of transient lodging and proposes preliminary recommendations — both broadly and in neighborhood-specific contexts — for each type. The goal is to create opportunity and support improved quality of life and governmental effectiveness in the administration of short-term rentals.