Hosts of short-term and nightly rentals will now have a few more hoops to jump through as Midway adjusts regulations for transient rental units and property managers.  Tuesday, city leaders “cleaned up language” for nightly rentals rules and regulations. The discussion and, ultimately, the approval of the changes came as a continuation of November’s council meeting. Then city leaders dissected the rules of the transient rental overlay district, or TROD. Some locals also spoke out in complaint of nightly rentals causing disturbances in their neighborhoods. “Congratulations to Midway, it was one of the first cities that had a short-term rental ordinance. But a lot of things have changed and short-term rentals have really taken off really recently in the past,” said City Planner Katie Villani. “Even something as simple as that you used to have to have somebody meet you to check in, and that’s really become a thing of the past.” With those changes came challenges for Midway and city officials decided Tuesday on amendments to its nightly and short-term rentals ordinances that may remedy those difficulties.  First, hosts must now feature an identification plaque that displays the property manager’s contact information. That’s for individuals who may want to make a complaint about disturbances while there are guests staying in the residence.  Villani said that’s similar to Midway’s cottage industry where an information plaque is also required to display the property manager’s information and contact.  If a host’s license for short-term renting is revoked, there must now be a one year waiting period to reapply. That’s a change from the past when the waiting period was just six months. Licenses are renewable annually by Dec. 31 with a grace period that would then be subject to a fine of 50%.  Midway leaders also approved a change where the property manager must be licensed through Midway City while allowing a physical business location in Wasatch County.  “So if you fall within the TROD and if you can do a short-term rental, you have to apply for a business license as an owner, and you also have to employ a licensed-in-Midway property manager,” Villani said.  And there’s one additional rule that’s a benefit to Midway city: dark sky compliance.  Now, nightly rentals must be built or adjusted to dark skies standards. Villani said that’s a benefit to the city because it will help increase the amount of properties that abide by those dark skies regulations. In turn, the rule will reduce light pollution.  Being in compliance with dark skies regulations means all lights on a property must be fully shielded with no soffit lighting except above porches and decks. There are guidelines on Midway’s website that outline how to reduce glare and avoid light trespass — putting lights in areas where they aren’t “wanted or needed.”  “The idea was that if you’re going to be do transient rentals, and you’re going to make money off these things, that perhaps we could have a dark sky compliance. That’s your investment into it as well, and that that might also cut down on the nuisance to neighbors, or anything of that sort,” Villani said.  That change in dark sky compliance will be added as a requirement when hosts renew their license at the end of the year.  The amendments ensure that property managers are in alignment with Midway’s TROD regulations and state requirements.  On a regular, non-holiday weekend, two guests can find a short-term rental on websites like Airbnb and Vrbo starting from $443 for a one-bedroom home for two nights. Larger parties of eight or more individuals could find a nightly rental for up to $1,500 in Midway for a four-bedroom home.  Though some councilors raised concerns that short-term rentals are a double-edged sword for housing affordability, Planning Director Michael Henke said that’s often not the case.  “We get calls all the time about people looking for properties that they want to purchase, and they can afford it because of the short-term rental. If it wasn’t an option, they wouldn’t even buy the property,” Henke said.  Property managers looking to renew their business licenses for short-term and nightly rentals will have to make changes when they go to re-up their license at the end of the year. The post Midway cleans up nightly rentals regulations with new rules for hosts appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less