Tulsa’s City Council has passed short-term rental regulations that require all operators to get a license and pay $375 each year.
The ordinance approved by the council does not make property owners get special approval for a short-term rental at a home they don’t live at, a provision that was recommended by the Tulsa Planning Office and Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission.
Most of those fees will go toward a hotline and a city employee dedicated to handling complaints about short-term rentals, like noise complaints and other concerns from neighbors.
Some Tulsans, however, said they still don’t want short-term rentals advertised on sites like Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway in their neighborhoods because they think they’ll lower property values.
"And the disruption to normal neighborhood behavior caused by renters gives cover to criminal activity. prospective buyers in our neighborhood do not expect to find any form of rentals there," said Marilyn Fowler.
Short-term rental operator Lisa Williams told the council neighborhoods should welcome people like her.
"We are contributing. We are elevating. We are improving neighborhoods. The properties that we buy, I just finished one that made the whole street better," Williams said.
The ordinance passed by the council allows the city to revoke a short-term rental operator's license under certain conditions. It does not include a limit on the number of short-term rentals that can be in a given area, nor does it supersede homeowner association agreements.
