West Newsmagazine 2-7-18

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February 7, 2018
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
I NEWS I 13
Ballwin’s P&Z commission to consider short-term rental legislation
By JIM ERICKSON
The Ballwin Board of Aldermen will
ask the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission
to review a proposed ordinance
enabling residents to rent a portion or all of
their homes for short-term periods.
After considering and approving changes
in a draft ordinance establishing rules and
regulations for the rentals, the board, as
required by law, now will forward the
issue to the commission for further review,
including a public hearing.
The commission then will make its recommendation
to the board for final consideration.
Although the issue has been percolating
for some time, aldermen first discussed it
at length at a meeting early in January, a
session that resulted in a request that City
Attorney Bob Jones draft an ordinance to
set rules governing the short-term rental
process.
Ballwin officials have been aware that
some residents have been listing rooms in
their homes, or their entire house, for shortterm
rentals. And while current ordinances
address the issue indirectly, the recent and
growing popularity of websites specializing
in listing such properties, has emphasized
the need for a more specific approach.
City officials have reported receiving
some complaints about the short-term rentals
but public comments at the early January
meeting also suggest the practice has
its supporters.
Jones said his draft is patterned after an
ordinance earlier approved in Ellisville.
The Ballwin measure would allow shortterm
rentals in a residence, subject to the
property passing a city inspection and the
permanent resident receiving a permit.
The permanent resident also must live
on the property a required number of
days annually and maintain records of the
rentals for a specified period. Parking for
vehicles of the permanent resident and any
overnight guests would be confined to the
actual property and the abutting street.
Among other things, the board discussed
and approved revisions in the draft to eliminate
a tax return as one of the documents
required to establish that a property is an
applicant’s primary residence and lowering
the retention period for rental records
from three years to two.
The number of days a permanent resident
must live on the property each year also was
reduced from 275 [in the draft] to 180.
Penalties for violating the ordinance can
include fines and, for two or more violations
within 180 days, revocation of the
permit.
The planning and zoning commission
must hold a public hearing on the proposed
ordinance because of its impact on existing
zoning regulations. Plans are for the
measure to be on the commission’s April
meeting agenda.
Pending a final resolution, Ballwin has
placed a moratorium on enforcing existing
city regulations affecting the rentals.
City officials have noted that even if the
ultimate decision is to allow short-term
rentals, subdivision covenants forbidding
the practice still will apply on properties in
those areas, assuming the subdivisions opt
to enforce such rules.
ZIP LINE, from page 11
City Administrator Ryan Thomas and
Economic Development Director Julian
Jacquin dating back to 2016 regarding
economic expansion opportunities with
Hidden Valley.
“You have people who are angry at each
other that didn’t have to land here, but
[they] did land here, because from the
get-go this was initiated poorly,” Wildwood
resident Stacy Jackson said at the
Jan. 22 meeting.
According to Thomas, while the city did
initiate conversation with Hidden Valley
about hosting a Tough Mudder weekend,
the city wasn’t informed of the resort’s
formal zip line tour proposal until May
2017, shortly before its official submittal
to the city.