It came as little surprise that during Sedona City Attorney Robert Pickels’ first state legislative update of the year the topic of short-term vacation rentals was near the top of his list.
His update, which he gives during the state legislative session, came at the Tuesday, Jan. 28, Sedona City Council meeting.
In regard to this topic, he said House Bill 2176 would restore regulatory authority to local jurisdictions over “investor-owned” short-term rentals.
“Investor-owned” is defined as not an individual’s primary or secondary residence. Pickels said he believes this bill will not be heard before a committee and will likely die.
A senate bill is currently being crafted by Arizona Sen. Kate Brophy McGee [R-District 28] and the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. Pickels said the current draft addresses the following:
- It removes the pre-emption on restricting short-term rentals based on their classification, use or occupancy.
- It specifically allows regulation of occupancy.
- It allows for the rental of certain non-owner occupied residences to be limited to not more than one time in a 30-day period unless otherwise allowed by a city or town.
- “How we make that determination of what’s appropriate for our community? I don’t know yet,” Pickels said. “It’s something we’d all have to talk about. It’s an interesting concept that Sen. Brophy McGee apparently is supportive of.”
- It prohibits the advertising of short-term rentals which exceed the applicable occupancy limits. “That’s a major concern for us, so that would be nice authority to have,” Pickels said.
- It removes short-term rentals from the regulations in state law applicable to long-term rentals. “I have argued, to no avail, with the Attorney General’s Office that this should be the case anyway — that short-term rentals should be separate,” Pickels said. “This would give us what I’ve been asking about for a couple of years.”
He added that these are items listed in the draft bill. And while Brophy McGee appears to be supportive of everything in the draft, the final version of the bill may be different.
