Belton City Council approves permits for short-term rentals

Killeen Daily Herald
BY JOEL VALLEY | TELEGRAM STAFF
March 14, 2023

The Belton City Council approved a permitting ordinance on Tuesday night that will govern short-term rentals, such as Airbnb experiences, after three complaints were submitted to staff nearly a year ago.

“These concerns included parking problems and traffic congestion, non-residents in the neighborhood, safety and trash accumulation,” Belton Planning Director Bob van Til said during a meeting on Tuesday.

An ordinance review committee — which was composed of van Til, Councilwoman Stephanie O’Banion, Councilman Daniel Bucher, City Manager Sam Listi, Belton Police Chief Gene Ellis, Finance Director Michael Rodgers, City Attorney Neale Potts, City Clerk Amy Casey, and CVB and Retail Coordinator Judy Garrett — have since met numerous times since July to work on a draft.

There are 14 ordinance elements within their adopted draft, including requiring all short-term rentals to obtain a permit from the city, pay an application fee, provide an emergency contact, pay a permit renewal fee each year, and pay local hotel occupancy taxes, according to a city of Belton staff report.

“The anticipated permit revenue is not expected to cover staff time needed to administer the ordinance, but would mitigate use of staff resources,” van Til said.

This ordinance can be reviewed online at bit.ly/3ThRJrl by clicking on the agenda packet for the March 14 meeting and going to page 87. It will become effective 90 days from the adoption.

Although dozens of residents have voiced their disdain regarding the ordinance at a public hearing on Jan. 10, at a public forum on Feb. 7 and in writing, they were all largely upset with a previously proposed $1,000 per year permitting fee.

“Many short-term rentals are one- or two-bedroom properties or even just an extra room in a house and not even the entire property,” Dave Covington, a real estate broker and former short-term rental owner running for the Place 2 seat on the City Council, said in an email to Belton City Council. “A five-bedroom palace that overlooks the lake could probably swing $1,000 per year pretty easily, but for the one-bedroom places, maybe $150 is more appropriate.”

Instead, the city of Belton settled on a $50 per year permitting fee, which will include a 30-day grace period for renewal when a short-term rental permit expires.

“I think that all of our short-term rental owners want residents in their homes,” O’Banion told short-term rental owners during a meeting on Jan. 10. “We have a tourism department here, so we want to know about them and we want to help promote (short-term rentals), especially when we are working with events that not everyone is aware of. We have communication and a relationship that we need to build so that we can work together.”