By a vote of 11 to 2, the Atlanta City Council approved an ordinance amending the zoning for the Home Park neighborhood near Georgia Tech to prohibit short term rentals (STRs) like Airbnbs.
The ordinance, sent to Mayor Andre Dickens’ office post-haste, will prevent people from receiving STR permits for the area. Current STR owners are exempt from the ban if they’ve previously obtained a permit with the city.
While many current STR owners flocked to the city council’s meeting on Aug.18 to voice their concerns about the ordinance, the city council members who voted in favor of the ban – all except Jason Dozier and Jason Winston – say the regulations are needed to curb disruption from unruly visitors and STR takeovers of potential affordable single-family homes in the neighborhood.
Council member Liliana Bakhtiari said they had met with Airbnb leadership before the vote, who suggested an increased police presence in the neighborhood to address disruptive behavior.
“Let me tell you this,” Bakhtiari said, “I will never, ever advocate for our taxpayer dollars going toward security for a multi-billion-dollar business… My concern is protecting my constituents who have used [Airbnb] to supplement their income, but what we cannot continue to allow is the complete monopolization of housing in the city without any regulations.”
While the ordinance supports Dickens’ goal of developing affordable housing in Atlanta, it may cause problems for the city’s tourism infrastructure during next summer’s FIFA World Cup.
In 2023, Airbnbs in metro Atlanta hosted 1.4 million guests and generated $1.4 billion in economic activity. Next year, Atlanta is expected to have over 300,000 unique visitors for the eight World Cup matches scheduled at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
This new regulation comes amidst city-wide discussions of the negative impacts of Airbnbs and other STRs in Atlanta. Residents of the Landmark Condos in Downtown have spoken at multiple city council meetings about drugs, crime, and chaos on the property after STRs took over the building.
To further support the development of affordable housing, the city council also voted on Monday to authorize the city attorney to initiate eminent domain proceeding against multi-family properties that have remained in a substantial state of blight for a decade or more. The city will redevelop these properties as affordable housing.
The council also voted to execute a 75-year ground lease agreement with Partners For Home to be used to develop quick-delivery housing on public land as part of the city’s Rapid Housing Initiative.
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