A current issue before the Dallas City Council and Texas Legislature is how to define and manage Short Term Rentals (STRs) in residential neighborhoods.
The City of Dallas has been trying to resolve the question of how to manage the growing number of STRs in Dallas for three years. There are about 6,000 operating in the city.1 STRs are in our neighborhood. D13, our district, has the third highest density of STRs in the city of Dallas. There is currently at least one STR operating in RNA.
TIME SENSITIVE:
- Tuesday, April 4th-
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- The Final Dallas City Council Briefing on STRs is at 9am at Dallas City Hall. This will be perhaps the final briefing before the full City Council,
with a full discussion of the proposed solution forwarded by the City
Plan Commission to the City Council.
- Wednesday, April 12th-
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- The Dallas City Council meeting is at 9am at Dallas City Hall. There is a potential vote on the zoning solution.
AFFECTING ROYAL NORTHAVEN:
- The STRs that have previously or are currently operating in RNA have caused issues including multiple calls to our ENP and 911 to report excessive noise, parking issues and the assault of an RNA member.
- The STRs operating throughout Dallas are straining all of the City services at tax payers expense.
LONG TERM IMPACT:
- The current proposed solution before the City Council will change the Dallas zoning code. The current proposed solution will uphold current
zoning intent by inserting a definition of Short Term Rentals as a
lodging use.
- Our State and Local Tax codes already define Short Term Rentals (a property rented for lodging for less than 30 days) as a Hotel, which requires them to pay a Hotel Occupancy Tax, just like Hyatts, Marriotts and other hotels.
- Dallas is collecting Hotel (HOT) tax for STRs, but 80% are NOT paying theses taxes.2 HOT Taxes can only be spent on tourism-related expenses, while costs of policing the problems associated with STRs are paid by taxpayers.
- Our city’s development code already prohibits hotels, motels, and B&Bs – lodging uses -- in single-family zoned residential areas. It also disallows those and many other kinds of businesses, including event venues, from operating in residential zoned areas, per Code 51.4-217
The Royal Northaven Neighborhood Association is a non-partisan and non-political organization. Our purpose is to disseminate information of interest to our residents. We encourage all RNA members to learn more about this issue affecting our neighborhood.
There are several residents who have become very informed and deeply passionate about this issue. Should you have questions or want to get involved, you can reach out to Cindy Hellstern at cindy.hellstern@gmail.com or 214-213-1333. She is also a member of The Texas Neighborhood Coalition, formed to advocate for neighbors concerned about STRs (more info: www.TXNeighbhorhoodCoalition.com/Dallas).
The City of Dallas has asked all residents to utilize the 311 and 911 reporting system for any issues relating to STRs. As always, we encourage RNA members to utilize the ENP phone number and 911 for any safety concerns in Royal Northaven.
1 Source- AirDNA website
2 Source- City of Dallas Comptroller
