Wichita votes to regulate short-term rentals, but delays ‘nuisance party’ law

Wichita Airbnb operators soon will be required to get a license for each property if they want to keep renting them out to guests.

By Scott Wadle’s estimate, between 500 and 600 short-term rentals are operating out of privately owned residences in the Wichita area.

All of them without a hotel/motel license have been doing so in violation of zoning laws, which prohibit stays of less than seven days in residential areas, said Wadle, the Wichita-Sedgwick County Metropolitan Area Planning Department director.

“We have a zoning code that did not anticipate short-term rentals,” he said at a planning commission meeting in May.

On Tuesday, the Wichita City Council approved proposed changes to the zoning code that would establish a process for short-term renters to get permits at a cost of $225 a year per property.

But council members delayed action on a separate proposal that would crack down on “nuisance parties” until the public could have more chance to comment. As it is worded, that proposal would apply to all homes instead of only short-term rentals.

The city began reevaluating its approach to short-term rentals more than two years ago after 20-year-old Elijah Davis of Wichita was fatally shot while attending a party at a Crown Heights Airbnb early on April 11, 2021.

Under the proposal approved by the City Council, the maximum overnight occupancy of any short-term rental would be limited to two adults (anyone 12 or older) per bedroom plus two additional adults. There would be no limit on the number of children who could stay overnight.

The city plans to limit gatherings at short-term rentals to two times the maximum overnight occupancy or 20 people — whichever is less — and guests would be required to leave by 10 p.m. under the terms of the licensing permit.

Property owners will be required to maintain liability insurance, and all advertisements of short-term rentals will have to include the license number.

After the new requirements receive final approval, existing short-term rental properties will have six months to comply.

If a property owner applies for an administrative permit under the new plan, the planning department will mail out a notice to residents who live in the immediate vicinity of the proposed short-term rental.

If less than half of those residents file a protest petition within 14 days, the license would move forward. If more than half object, the case would go before the planning commission and City Council for a conditional use vote to determine whether a short-term rental is appropriate.

Two violations of the license requirements within 12 months would result in the short-term rental permit being revoked.

The zoning change recommendations were approved by the planning commission by a 7-5 vote in May.

At that meeting, Crown Heights resident Jason Kraus shared his concerns about dangerous and unruly behavior at short-term rentals in his neighborhood.

“We’ve had, of course, the shooting event that started this whole process on April 11, 2021, where Elijah (Davis) was killed out my back window basically,” Kraus said.

But he said that’s not the only instance of disruptive behavior he’s witnessed.

“Egregious events that we’ve had in my neighborhood have been eggings — eggs thrown over back fences from one Airbnb property into another,” Kraus said. “I’ve also had Airsoft and BB guns being discharged towards my house from an Airbnb house behind me.”

Emily Alvarez, who owns a number of short-term rental properties in Wichita, said she goes out of her way to be a good neighbor.

“I’m sorry that other people are having negative impacts of negligent Airbnb owners. I am not one of those,” Alvarez said.

“I communicate with my neighbors. They know that we’re Airbnbs. They have my phone number to make sure they can reach out to me if there’s any issues.”

Cracking down on ‘nuisance parties’

The council also discussed an ordinance designed to help police crack down on “nuisance parties” at short-term rentals and other residences, including city-owned housing.

Under the proposal, nuisance activities would include unlawful sale, furnishing, possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages; noise violations; property damage; assault or battery; littering; outdoor urination or defecation in public view; indecent exposure; trespassing on adjacent property; setting off fireworks or discharging firearms.

The property owner could receive a citation under the proposal if partygoers don’t stop after being asked by law enforcement to cease party activities. Upon conviction, fines could range from $250 to $2,500, and violators may also be jailed for up to a year.

“I think maybe we ought to take a step back instead of just throwing in the whole city on the short-term rentals,” council member Jeff Blubaugh told Wadle.

“It sounds like a great overreach by your department.”

Wichita city attorney Sharon Dickgrafe told the council no individual department pushed for the ordinance to include all homes.

“The committee that was working on the short-term rental thought that this was an additional tool that could be used both for short-term rentals and other residential properties,” she said.

Blubaugh asked: “Who thought that?”

Dickgrafe said the group of staff that was working on that project. Blubaugh asked what staff, and she replied herself and Wadle.

“It’s one of the best practices that we saw when we researched this issue,” Dickgrafe said.

Wadle said the proposal was reported to all district advisory boards and he thought it was clear that the ordinance applied to all residential areas.

Blubaugh replied that City Manager Robert Layton thought until just before the meeting that the “nuisance parties” ordinance applied only to short-term rentals.

“So if it wasn’t clear to the city manager, how is it clear to the rest of the public?” Blubaugh said.

Dickgrafe said enforcement would be complaint driven, giving an example of a graduation party where kids are on the lawn urinating and someone calls 911 because they can’t get their vehicle out of the driveway.

“It’s going to be an additional tool . . . when the police get those calls at 1 o’clock in the morning,” she said.

Some council members asked who would be responsible for rentals.

Dickgrafe said, most of the time, the person who is at the property would be the one cited. But this would allow the potential to cite a landlord or owner of a property where violations continue to happen.

“Maybe we should add that language if that is what the expectation is,” Blubaugh said.

The council decided to defer the proposal until Dec. 12 so there would be opportunity for more public input, including from homeowners and landlords.

Contributing: Michael Stavola of The Eagle

This story was originally published September 12, 2023 at 5:33 AM.