ATHENS, Ala. (Waffle)— Athens city officials passed new rules on Airbnb and other short-term rentals.

The City Council last week voted to create an ordinance requiring those owners to pay a business license fee and an accommodation fee.

These new rules also apply to vacation homes in the city, and it happens because the city previously didn’t regulate Airbnb at all. It means they didn’t even receive income from those properties.

City leaders say a big reason for this new ordinance is to increase city revenue. Because the city didn’t regulate those properties until now, they didn’t make any money from them.

Athens City Planner Erin Tidwell said now also seems like the right time to pass the new rules as Airbnb continues to grow in popularity across the country.

The rules also define what the city considers a short-term rental and set rules about what can be rented. For example, a house or an entire apartment must be rented. Someone is not allowed to rent out their room.

Tidwell said the new regulations are needed for another reason as well.

“I think we’re seeing this become more and more popular,” Tidwell said. “It’s becoming something that we have to put some regulations in place, just to make sure that everybody is a good neighbor and we create a way to treat all accommodation uses the same.”

Tidwell said the new ordinance applies to about 10 short-term residential properties throughout the city.

She also said the new ordinance aims to increase fairness for hotel and motel owners, as they are already required to pay license fees and lodging taxes.

“I think we’re just being proactive in putting this in place and responding to concerns about short-term rental regulation,” Tidwell said. “What we’re doing here is just creating a level playing field for all of our accommodation uses and just making sure there’s just some guidelines in place for how they’re going to work.”

Huntsville and Florence already have an ordinance that addresses Airbnb property, and Decatur officials are working on something similar.

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