PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Short-term rentals are a hot topic for city leaders across the country in recent years.
The evolution of websites such as Airbnb, Vrbo and Sniff Spot allows residents to rent out their homes, a room or even their backyards.
Now, Portsmouth city leaders plan to discuss potential regulations for short-term rentals following a deadly shooting investigation.
Early Sunday morning, police say a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed on North Street. Officers later confirmed the shooting started at a nearby Airbnb in the Olde Towne area.
Portsmouth police hosted a RESET walk Tuesday afternoon ahead of the Portsmouth City Council meeting.
During the council meeting, Councilman Mark Hugel asked the Interim City Manager Mimi Terry and City Attorney Lavonda Graham-Williams to look into regulations for short-term rentals, including the Airbnb Short-term rental regulation toolkit for policymakers.
“Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had two shootings associated with two short term rental facilities,” Hugel said. “Currently we have no regulations on the book to manage how short term rentals are handled.”
Hugel added that a short-term rental list will allow city leaders and residents to know who is renting out their home or backyard.
“It’s important to us that we partner with communities to make sure that our standards are being upheld, and if there are issues, we want to work with communities and in this case law enforcement,” Hugel said Wednesday. “In fact, Airbnb has a law enforcement portal that we’re not plugged into because we don’t even have a registry of who is operating short-term rentals.”
Councilman De’Andre Barnes said Airbnb has a strict ‘no parties’ rule.
“I’m interested to learn what other cities are doing before we try to make certain restrictions,” Barnes said. “What [we] don’t want to do is stop people from wanting to make money and wanting to do Airbnb’s. Plus, we do have a casino without a hotel. That is where people are staying if they come here.”
Barnes, who grew up in the Dale Homes neighborhood, believes the Sunday morning shooting is not an isolated incident.
“Someone saw their opposition and showed up,” Barnes said. “I don’t think we should jump so quickly because it happened at an Airbnb. That situation would have happened if they were coming to a football game, [or] a school.”
Barnes believes the City Council should focus more on addressing crime that is happening throughout the entire city.
“It was in Olde Towne — that’s why we are really having this conversation,” Barnes said. “I’m not concerned specifically that it happened there. I’m concerned that it happens all the time in the city.
“When a crime happens, when somebody goes to jail, when somebody gets shot, when somebody dies, … the problem didn’t start that day, it started when they chose that lifestyle. We’ve got to stop them from choosing that lifestyle.”
The council and Portsmouth Police address crime several times during the meeting — as one of the top priorities for the city.
“As Councilman Barnes pointed out, [during the meeting] this isn’t an Airbnb or a short-term rental issue,” Hugel said. “… This is a crime issue. I agree with him, it’s just that two happen to intersect. The goal isn’t to interfere with business. We simply want to put some regulation in place so that we know who is doing it.”
Mayor Shannon Glover asked Terry to continue to research short term rentals. Terry clarified if the council would like information on a business license for short-term rentals.
