Important City Council STR Vote 3/23/23

March 20, 2023:

Currently, the Council is considering a density cap of one STR per square block, meaning only one permit will be issued within a block (typically) bounded by four streets. The City Council will hear public comments and vote on the density cap Thursday, March 23, at 11:00 am. Residents can make comments at the meeting or submit comments to council members in advance of the meeting: 

• helena.moreno@nola.gov
• JP.morrell@nola.gov
• Joseph.Giarrusso@nola.gov
• Lesli.Harris@nola.gov
• Freddie.King@nola.gov
• Eugene.Green@nola.gov
• Oliver.Thomas@nola.gov

How we got here: When a federal court ruled that a New Orleans law restricting licenses for short-term Airbnb-style rentals to city residents unconstitutionally blocks out-of-state property owners from the vacation rental market last August, the City Council was mandated to come up with an alternative by the end of March 2023.  You can read more about that here.

For a more in-depth look at the legislation, all of the rules are laid out in two ordinances:
Ordinance 34,082 will amend the existing STR application, permitting, enforcement, penalties, and operating regulations in the City code.
Ordinance 34,083 will amend the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance to modify the Residential STR regulations to bring them into compliance with the decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which determined the homestead exemption requirement to be unconstitutional.

Read the UC’s letter to councilmembers, including survey results and comments, here.