Senate Bill 1554, which aims at imposing local control over vacation rentals, has been assigned to the Arizona State Senate Commerce Committee and could be agendized for the committee to discuss as early Thursday, Feb. 13.

Since SB 1350 was passed in 2016, counties, towns and cities have been prohibited from imposing any regulation on short-term rentals.
The new bill was introduced by Arizona Sen. Kate Brophy McGee [R-District 28] and cosponsored by Sens. Sean Bowie [D-District 18], John Kavanagh [R-District 23] and Heather Carter [R-District 15].

According to the Sedona City Attorney’s Office, SB 1554 as currently written:

• Removes short-term rentals from the chapter in Arizona statutes which regulates long-term residential rentals. This action is referred to as “decoupling,” and would have the effect of treating short-term rentals separately from long-term rentals.
• Creates a state regulation limiting certain rentals that are not an individual’s primary or secondary residence — or a property that is owned by a corporation without an owner on the premises — to not more than one rental in a 30-day period unless the city or town allows for more frequent rental periods. Thus, the state creates the one-time limit, and the city or town can, if it chooses, allow for more than one rental in that 30-day period.
• Creates a state regulation prohibiting the advertisement of short-term rentals that exceed occupancy limits.
• Allows a city or town to adopt regulations for short-term rentals if the rental property is not a person’s primary or secondary residence. There is additional language being proposed which would limit the protection against regulation to no more than one secondary residence. So, according to the city attorney, a person could rent out their primary residence and one secondary residence, but no more than that unless a city or town allows it.
• Specifically allows cities and towns to enforce occupancy limits for short-term rentals in the same way as a city or town would for any other residential property according to local zoning. Sedona, the zoning ordinance generally limits residential occupancy to no more than four unrelated adults and their children.
• Specifies that a corporate entity is not a natural person and vice-versa.
• Suspends the transaction privilege tax license for repeat violators, on the third offense, of any regulation relating to short-term rentals. Under state law an individual may not operate a short-term rental without a valid tax license.

If the bill makes it out of committee, it will next move to caucus in the senate, followed by a floor vote. If approved, the bill heads to the House to follow the same process, then to the governor if there are no amendments or changes, or back to the senate for another floor vote if the bill is altered.

“We need to change state law to be able to reasonably regulate short term rentals,” Sedona Mayor Sandy Moriarty stated. “We are not trying to eliminate short-term rentals which are truly home-sharing, with the owner present.”

Moriarty added that if the bill passes, it would not be retroactive, meaning it would only affect future vacation rentals. Existing short-term rentals would be legal, grandfathered properties, “but [the city] can prevent the current situation from becoming worse.”

“No matter how friendly or well-behaved short-term renters are, they undermine neighborhoods, local zoning laws and, at least in Sedona, they undermine our Community Plan. State law does not allow us to treat short-term rentals as the businesses they are,” Moriarty stated. “Neighborhoods are the basis of community. When short-term or vacation rentals proliferate, and especially if they dominate the neighborhood, they change the character of our communities.”

Moriarty urges Sedona residents to actively lobby members of the legislature to pass the bill.
“Please support this bill at every step of the legislative process by sending personal emails, not pre-worded, to both legislators and the governor,” she stated. “Tell your own story of your experience with short term or vacation rentals in your neighborhood.”

Moriarty said that legislators and the governors’ office need to hear from residents, and they respond best to phone calls and personal emails, not to form letters or mass copy-and-pasted emails. Moriarty said the governors’ office claims it has heard little from Arizona residents about problems regarding vacation rentals, and she urges residents to voice their concerns.

“Have you been forced to leave your long-term rental so it can be turned into a short term rental? Have many of the homes in your neighbourhood turned into vacation rentals?” Moriarty stated. “There have been remedies offered for nuisances due to short term rentals, but there is much more to the story. Please tell yours.”

Senate Commerce Committee members are Chairwoman Michelle Ugenti-Rita, [R-District 23], Vice Chairman Tyler Pace [R-District 25], Tony Navarrete [D-District 30], J.D. Mesnard [R-District 17], Livingston [R-District 17], Sally Ann Gonzales [D-District 3], David C. Farnsworth [R-District 16] and Sean Bowie [D-District 18].