Fort Worth to Hold Meetings on Short-Term Rental Regulation

The city of Fort Worth will be holding the first of two meetings this week over possible updates to the way it regulates short-term rentals.

A short-term rental, sometimes referred to as a “vacation rental,” is a residential property available for rent between one and 29 days. In 2018, the city updated its ordinance to clarify short-term rentals are not allowed in residential districts, though city leaders admit it can be tough to regulate.

Dana Burghdoff, assistant city manager for Fort Worth, said the current ordinance allows short-term rentals in districts that are “zoned mix use” allowing both commercial and residential uses, along with zones for commercial and industrial uses. The city essentially equates a short-term rental to other forms of lodging such as a hotel, Burghdoff said.

“It’s difficult to know what happens inside a home or inside a business, for that matter,” she said. “So, it requires a lot of site visits and monitoring to provide proper enforcement.”

Right now, city leaders are looking into a new registration requirement. Hosts of short-term rentals who are operating can register their property, assuming it’s in a zone where it’s allowed.

“If they’re not in a zone where it’s allowed, then they have the option to either stop the activity or request a zoning change or other option that the council might decide in the coming months,” she said.

Edgar Rodriguez with the Fort Worth Short Term Rental Alliance has property near the Fort Worth Stockyards. For more than a year, it has been used as a short-term rental. Rentals can be operated responsibly and his property is an example, Rodriguez said.

“The feedback from all of our guests is wonderful. I know all of our neighbors in the community. There’s really been no issues,” he said.

The alliance will be present at the meeting Tuesday night, he said. He added, he is in favor of a "sensible" ordinance.

“We’re going to try and vouch for short-term rentals in the city of Fort Worth. It’s not what you hear. It’s not what the rhetoric is. It’s not homes that are just crime-ridden and parties and meth labs. It’s not that at all. So, we’re trying to close the misunderstanding and the myths that are out there,” he said. “We understand what the neighborhood communities are saying. We don’t want crimes, we don’t want parties. I don’t either. Neither do you. Neither does anyone.”

Roy Barker of Fort Worth has lived in his home for seven years. The issues he and his wife have dealt with since their neighbor began hosting a short-term rental are two-fold, he said.

“Memorial Day, we had probably at least 18-20 [people] at one time. They didn’t do anything criminal or loud, but parking we just don’t have the infrastructure to have 10 or 12 cars up here,” he said.

There is also the issue of noise and trash pileups at times, he said.

“We’re not on constant vacation. We work. That time, my wife was getting up at six in the morning. So, it just cuts our sleep out. We always wonder too, 'who are these people?'” he added. “Let’s try to solve this before it gets that bad, where somebody has to lose their life or we have to have police intervention.”

For more information on the meetings this week, click here.