Columbia City Council approves updated ordinance for short-term rentals

COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council approved an ordinance on Monday that updated its short-term rental regulations, but voted on some additional amendments before doing so.

The amendments updated Chapter 13 of the City Code , which governs miscellaneous business regulations.

According to the council memo , the amendments include defining "short-term rental" and "transient guest.” It also reinforces the need for a short-term rental certificate, “clearly” prohibits short-term rentals from operating without a license, sets insurance requirements on short-term rentals, and outlines penalties for violations of any of these proposed amendments.

The council passed an amendment, but changed the wording so that a business license won't be required until 2026. However, some other wording changes that would have further loosened restrictions proposed by Ward 2 Councilwoman Lisa Meyer were not approved.

The new definition for short-term rental under the City Code will be: "A residential dwelling unit, or portion of a residential dwelling unit, advertised or held out to the public as a place where sleeping accommodations are offered for pay or compensation to transient guests."

Meanwhile "transient guest" will be defined as: "A person who occupies a room in a hotel, motel, tourist court, bed, and breakfast, or short-term rental for less than thirty-one (31) consecutive days."

Penalties for violations of these amendments include being charged with a misdemeanor.

New rules will now also include requiring business liability insurance , which would cover both bodily injury, including accidental death, and property damage, in order to cover all claims arising from short-term rental activities. As part of the wording changes voted on by the council, short-term rental insurance was included as an option instead of business liability.

The City Council voted in favor of use-specific standards required to operate short-term rentals in February , which included creating a three-tier system. The tier system allows certain properties to be only rented for 30 days per year (Tier 1), no more than 120 days per year (Tier 2), and year-round rental (Tier 3.) The amendment also requires short-term rental owners to have a business license, limits owners to one property, and sets the maximum number of occupants per property at eight. The changes were met with heavy criticism during a public hearing in December.

The new short-term rental regulations went into effect June 1, however, according to City of Columbia Community Development Director Tim Teddy, operators will have until June 1, 2025, to comply with the ordinance.

The city is anticipating to garner roughly $30,000 in business license fee revenue, assuming that there are at least 300 short-term rental businesses that average annual gross receipts of $300,000 or fewer. However, licensing fees will now not go into effect until 2026.

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