Vacation Rental Regulations To Come Before Smyrna Council Soon

SMYRNA, GA — The city of Smyrna could soon approve new vacation rental regulations that would set guidelines on occupancy, parking, maintenance, licensing and taxes for operating a vacation home within city limits.

A task force focused on crafting the city's first short-term rental ordinance is finishing up the final draft of the proposed law, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution — which would establish a multitude of regulations on short-term rentals in the city.

Mayor Derek Norton created the task force in the spring to address issues and concerns after the city received "numerous calls and complaints" regarding short-term rentals, according to city documents.

Georgia doesn't have state laws for vacation rentals, but does set the state and local bed taxes collected from stays. Cobb County also doesn't have any restrictions, but is working on incorporating vacation rentals into its code.

Smyrna doesn't have laws regulating rentals in its code either, but does have 342 short-term rentals in city limits, Smyrna Community Development Director Rusty Martin told the AJC, mostly near The Battery.

The city put out a citywide survey about two months ago for residents to voice their opinions on the proposed ordinance and voice concerns.

"This [ordinance] doesn't ban short-term rentals, but it gives us the ability to regulate them and limit them throughout the city," said City Councilman Glenn Pickens, chairman of the task force, during a Dec. 9 virtual town hall.

• Related: Short-Term Rental Ordinance Survey Open For Smyrna Residents

If approved, the ordinance would require residents who rent out their home as vacation homes — for example, through websites like Airbnb and VRBO — to apply for a short-term rental license and a $95 business tax certificate from the city, both of which would have to be renewed each year.

Occupancy levels would be limited to two people per bedroom, plus three additional people. In an attempt to address house party concerns, maximum occupancy would not be allowed to exceed the maximum allowed number of overnight tenants — a.k.a., two people per bedroom, plus three, according to the ordinance.

Each short-term rental owner would also be required to have a designated "agent" — either themselves or someone else — who would be available to maintain the property and handle problems arising from use of the short-term rental unit. The homeowner could change who they choose as a short-term rental agent temporarily or permanently, but there can only be one agent at any given time.

Owners would also have to prove that they have at least $500,000 in liability insurance on the home, and can't rent out their single-family homes more than 180 days per calendar year.

You can view the proposed ordinance online here.

The task force is expected to present a final draft of the ordinance at a Smyrna's Committee of the Whole meeting before it goes before City Council for approval in early 2022, the AJC reported.