Fairport Harbor Village Council is going to take a bit more time prior to voting on legislation that would establish regulations for short-term rental properties in the community. Council, at its most recent meeting, approved a request from Mayor Tim Manross to table two ordinances dealing with short-term rentals. Ordinance 2024-80 would establish a list of rules for short-term rental properties in Fairport Harbor. Ordinance 2024-81 would designate short-term rentals as a conditional use in the village’s zoning code. Both measures were set for a third reading at the Nov. 19 council meeting. That meant council either needed to vote on the ordinances or put them on hold until their next meeting. Manross asked that both ordinances be tabled for different reasons. In regard to Ordinance 2024-80, he said the village Planning Commission made a recommendation on revising the measure that hasn’t been submitted yet to council. “We will have that recommendation presented to council at its Dec. 17 meeting,” Manross said. As for Ordinance 2024-81, the mayor said council still needed to hold a public hearing on this legislation before a vote could legally be taken. Manross then scheduled the public hearing for 6 p.m. Jan. 7. The hearing will precede a special meeting of council that is slated for 6:30 on that same date. Council could vote at its Dec. 17 meeting on Ordinance 2024-80 — which would establish regulations for short-term rentals — after being presented with the village Planning Commission’s recommended revision to the measure. “But being that (the two ordinances) are both kind of packaged together, I think it would be cleaner just to table them tonight, and pull them back in the beginning of the year, after we have the public hearing,” Manross said. Ordinance 2024-80 would create regulations in Fairport Harbor to ensure that short-term rental properties “meet appropriate safety standards to protect both occupants and the surrounding community,” according the text of the legislation. Companies such as Airbnb and Vrbo operate online, worldwide marketplaces that allow hosts to rent out homes or portions of residences to guests who are seeking short-term lodging and want an alternative to a hotel. The village’s proposed ordinance defines a short-term rental as “any dwelling that is rented wholly or partly for a fee and for less than 30 consecutive days by persons other than the permanent occupant or owner, from which the permanent occupant or owner receive monetary compensation.” If this ordinance is approved by council, all owners of short-term rental properties in Fairport Harbor would be required to apply for and obtain permits before being allowed to lease these units. Those permits would be issued by the village zoning inspector. A permit application fee of $100 per short-term rental unit would be required from property owners. Each permit would be valid from the date it is issued through March 1 of the following calendar year, at which time the property owner would need to submit a new application. Some of the minimum standards for short-term rentals listed in the proposed ordinance are: • Short-term rental units must be leased by the whole dwelling unit. The renting of individual rooms will be prohibited. • Short-term rental units must comply with all regulations in the village’s property maintenance code. • The short-term rental unit must have off-street parking for one vehicle per every two bedrooms within the dwelling unit. • Operable smoke detectors must be installed in each sleeping area of each dwelling unit. • Sleeping rooms shall not be permitted in the attic or basement levels without secondary means of egress. • Short-term rental units must undergo an annual fire safety inspection conducted by the Fairport Harbor Fire Department. In addition, this legislation would require hosts of short-term rental units to retain records of the name and primary residence of each guest making a reservation; dates and duration of each stay; and the rates charged per day for each short-term rental unit. Hosts would be required to keep those records for a period of at least three years, the ordinance states.