AZLE — Short-term rentals, like AirBnB or VRBO, have been in the Azle City Council’s crosshairs since last spring. After a long pause, the city is putting the final touches on an ordinance regulating these businesses within city limits.
Over the last several years, cities throughout North Texas have attempted to pass ordinances banning or restricting short-term rentals. Outright bans have not been viewed favorably by courts and have largely been overturned. Many cities have found success in restricting or adding conditions to the operations of short-term rentals instead.
Kenneth Bachelor, who lives on Windjammer Lane, first brought the issue to the council’s attention during an April 16, 2024, meeting. Bachelor stated that an Airbnb located on his street was a constant source of overcrowding and noise, alleging there were as many as 17 cars parked in front of the house on a particular weekend and that the police had to be called. Council members Amy Estes and Stacy Peek claimed they had also witnessed similar problems with short-term rental properties near their homes.
In crafting an ordinance, city attorney Andrea Russell emphasized the need for strong evidence and thoughtful regulation to avoid legal challenges. She stated that the foundation for the regulations should focus on the impact the properties have on the health and safety of the community. With the ordinance, the city hopes to reduce excess traffic, noise and potential health or safety concerns short-term rental properties may have on residents throughout Azle.
After much discussion and a June 4, 2024, meeting with Rachel Raggio, an attorney who specializes in short-term rentals with the city’s legal counsel, Taylor Olson Adkins Sralla & Elam, the council is down to working out its final kinks and questions with a draft version of the document.
During a March 4 city council meeting, Azle resident Destiny Ann voiced her concerns at the meeting. She worried the ordinance could set a dangerous precedent for property rights and warned it could open up the city to lawsuits. While not a short-term rental property owner herself, Ann said she had a colleague interested in acquiring multiple properties in the area. After the meeting, Ann reached out to the Tri-County Reporter to further argue her position.
“This is an outrageous violation of the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments — the same rights that protect all homeowners from government overreach,” Ann said in an email to the newspaper. “If city leaders can force this on STR owners, what stops them from targeting rental properties, home businesses, or even single-family homes in the future?”
At the meeting, Russell and the council responded to Ann’s questions and concerns, stating that short-term rentals are expected to be treated like hotels and that constitutional protections for homes do not apply. The major point of contest between Ann and the council was the requirement that short-term rentals receive mandated inspections for fire safety.
“Whenever you choose to make your house a business, you’re choosing that,” council member Brian Conner said.
“If you don’t want that, then don’t open it as business.
That’s your choice as a property owner.”
Azle Mayor Alan Brundrett empathized with the woman’s worries but ultimately agreed with Conner and Russell, stressing that the idea behind the ordinance was to protect homeowners living near short term rental properties. A current draft of the ordinance can be found online in the city council’s March 4 agenda.
The council is expected to continue discussing and ultimately vote on whether to approve the ordinance in an upcoming meeting.
