Bring out the lobbyists

by David Forbes July 15, 2015

Airbnb cues up the lobbyists to push Asheville City Council as the fight over short-term rentals continues, local government considers new rules and the tech giant turns its attention to our city

Short-term rentals are, to put it mildly, a controversial topic here. With the explosion of sites like Airbnb and Asheville’s rising profile as a tourism destination, our area has seen a sharp increase in the number of short-term rentals. On Airbnb in particular, Asheville boasts more advertised rentals than much larger North Carolina cities like Raleigh or Charlotte.

Earlier this month, emails obtained by the Blade show, Jeff Tippett of Targeted Persuasion, a Raleigh-based political consulting firm hired by Airbnb to lobby on their behalf, emailed Asheville City Council. Tippett’s goal in the July 10 email was to arrange a meeting between the Council members and Max Pomeranc, Airbnb’s regional head of public policy, who “would like the opportunity to discuss the new regulation that has been proposed for Asheville,” Tippett wrote.

Broadly, the field of short-term rentals covers everything from small homeowners renting out an extra room for visitors to large companies buying up properties and taking them off the traditional rental market to turn a profit. Currently, Asheville’s ordinances ban short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods, but allow them in other areas and have an exception for “homestays” allowing people to rent out part of their own home, if it’s above 2,500 sq ft. and meets a number of other requirements.

Proponents of short-term rentals say they’re a way for locals to make some cash off the tourism boom, that they’re a friendlier alternative to hotels for many travelers and that they have a right to do as they wish with their property, including renting it to tourists for a higher amount than they could get from longer-term tenants.

Critics of the practice, ranging from affordable housing advocates to neighborhood activists, see a major problem with the proliferation of short-term rentals, asserting that it further reduces the supply of housing in a city where many already struggle with paying rent. They also assert that those STR owners wishing to make a higher profit by renting out second or third homes — or even companies with many properties — hide behind more modest homeowners renting out part of their own homes.

In an in-depth analysis and opinion piece for the Blade in July, local writer Joy Chin compared Asheville’s experience to that of other cities and laid out a case for allowing some short-term rentals (in the case of people renting out parts of their homes) but banning the rest throughout the city.

As debates have swirled over the last few months, including at multiple public forums, roughly four positions backed by different individuals and groups have emerged. The first wants short-term rentals largely allowed with minimal regulation. The second wants them allowed, but with somewhat more stringent regulation. The third would allow such rentals for those letting out a room or part of their own home, but ban them for those renting out properties they don’t live in. The fourth wants to keep up Asheville’s ban entirely, with stepped-up enforcement and fines to deter short-term rentals.

In a discussion on the topic in May, Council largely sided with the third camp, reaching a rough consensus around making homestays easier (dropping the size limit, for example) so people could rent out parts of their homes, but continuing the ban on all other short-term rentals in residential areas, along with stepping up fines and enforcement as a deterrent. In their discussions, Council members cited concerns about the worsening housing crisis and an influx of overnight tourists chipping away at the quality of life in residential neighborhoods.

Since then Council member Cecil Bothwell, who expressed doubts during the discussion, has publicly written that increasing fines and continuing the ban is “a serious mistake” and Council should instead opt for regulating STRs but largely allow them.

Coming up the mountain

As Airbnb’s business has exploded and controversies over the effects of short-term rentals have erupted across the country and world, the $25 billion company has devoted considerable resources to lobbying and shaping public policy.

What does that look like in Asheville? So far, an inquiry to Pomeranc asking for more information about exactly what public policy goals Airbnb is lobbying for here has not been returned. However, on the company’s public policy blog, Pomeranc has weighed in extensively, such as when Airbnb starting to pay taxes in North Carolina earlier this year.

“As we move forward, we’ll continue our work with leaders in North Carolina on clear, fair rules for home sharing,” Pomeranc wrote in that post. “We are confident that we can work together on some simple policies that embrace home sharing and make North Carolina communities stronger.”

Earlier this year, Pomeranc visited Raleigh for a government committee meeting about regulating short-term rentals there and cautioned against a registry Given that, and his position it’s likely, and not surprising, that Pomeranc will push Council to back away from a possible ban on short-term rentals here.

As for Targeted Persuasion, this won’t be the Raleigh company’s first tilt wading into the public policy battles in Airbnb’s behalf. On its website, the company touts its lobbying efforts in Raleigh on the short-term rental issue as one of the main examples of its work.

“We designed an effective, well-crafted grassroots campaign,” the site brags, noting petition drives, polling, social media pushes and training pro-short-term rental speakers as part of its efforts to push for rules allowing Airbnb and other short-term rentals (like Asheville, Raleigh currently bans the practice in some areas). That city is still considering what rules changes it might pursue.

“While far from being settled, we helped influence Raleigh City Council not to ban Airbnb,” Targeted Persuasion’s site notes. “The grassroots campaign worked as designed.”

Council is set to take up the issue in August.

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