ATL Neighbors

Coexist with Short Term Rentals

Phase 1 - Fact Finding

ATL Neighbors is currently in Phase 1 of an effort to shape policy that enables city residents to coexist with Short Term Rentals (STRs). ATL neighbors is developing a brief questionnaire and intends to reach out to all of Atlanta's communities to determine what impact, if any, Short Term Rentals are having on our communities. An online version of the questionnaire will be posted here. Results will be posted here once all the data is collected.

Open Questions

ATL Neighbors wants to understand how significant and widespread the STR problem is in Atlanta and what solutions can be put in place to mitigate those issues. Specifically, ATL Neighbors hopes to answer the following questions through this fact finding effort:

1. Are the impacts of Short Term Rentals felt throughout the city or are they concentrated to just a few areas?
   • The ATL Neighbors review of Airbnb listings in September 2020 shows 3,876 listings distributed across 75% of Atlanta neighborhoods. Click on the map below to explore the data visually or click here to download the data in spreadsheet format to explore the data by hand. Refer to tracking companies like AIRDNA.co for sources of data that include additional STR platforms and pricing statistics.

     The density of listings appears to increase with proximity to downtown Atlanta. ATL Neighbors compiled a few statistics from the dataset including:

     • 98% have a short-term (30 days or less) minimum stay requirement
     • 83% of these short-term listings are for an entire home
     • 45% of these short-term listings are available full time
   • ATL Neighbors believes the Short Term Rental Community Questionnaire Results indicate that STRs are problematic throughout the city. Specifically, the data shows that:
     • 71% of participating city residents believe STRs have a negative impact
     • 64% of participating neighborhoods believe STRs have a negative impact
     • 90% of participating City Council Districts believe STRs have a negative impact
2. What aspects of STRs are city residents most concerned with?
   • The top three concerns of participating city residents in the Atlanta Short Term Rental Community Questionnaire Results are
     • 78% are concerned with displacement of neighbors
     • 72% are concerned with Party Houses
     • 71% are concerned with Noise
3. How many violent crimes are associated with STRs?
4. How many non-violent crimes are associated with STRs?
5. How many nuisance calls such as noise complaints are associated with STRs?
6. How many housing or zoning code violations are associated with STRs?
7. What are the city's rules and regulations for operating STRs?
   • STRs are not directly addressed in city ordinances.
8. Where and how does the city publish the rules and regulations for operating STRs?
   • The city has ordinances governing hotels and residential land use, but does not specifically address Short Term Rentals.
9. What is the city doing to enforce the rules and regulations for operating STRs?
   • There are no specific STR regulations, but APD code enforcement has issued arrest warrants for Operating a Business without a License and Illegal Use of Property Operating a Commercial Event Facility in a residential Zoning District under Chapter 5 section 16 of the Atlanta City Ordinance. Note that one such location is still listed on the Airbnb STR platform as of 23 August 2020¹.
10. What is the status of the Z-19-76 zoning definition?
    • The Z-19-76 ordinance was discussed City Council on July 1, 2019.
    • Discussion of the ordinance was deferred for 90 days at the August 6, 2020 ZRB meeting.
11. What is the status of Georgia HB 523 and revision LC-36-4211S?
    • Click here to ask your state legislators.
12. What is the city's review process for any applicable licenses or permits?
    • Atlanta has a licensure process for hotels and similar places², but STR platforms argue they are not hotels. Atlanta does not enforce hotel or any other licensure requirements on STRs at this time.
13. How does the city receive community feedback for the review process?
    • There is no license, permit or review process and therefore there is no community feedback.
14. How does the city track and report on revenues collected from STRs?
    • Some platforms such as Airbnb remit sales taxes³. Revenues from STRs are not tracked separately from any other business. If this is incorrect please contact us.
15. How does the city allocate any revenues collected from STRs?
    • ATL Neighbors believes sales taxes go into the general fund.⁴ If this is incorrect please contact us.
16. How are other municipalities dealing with STRs in their communities and what does successful policy look like?
    • Click here to read our STR policy overview.
    • ATL Neighbors believes the Atlanta Short Term Rental Policy Questionnaire Results indicate Atlanta is receptive to a number of STR policy measures. Specifically the data shows that:
      • 86% of participants support posting city ordnances in STRs and establishing maximum occupancy limits
      • 81% of participants support a hotel tax, safety checklist, limits on the total number of guests, licenses to host and escalating penalties for non-compliance
      • 76% of participants support notifying neighbors when an STR license is applied for, require record keeping, and establishing a complaint process
      • Participants did not support requiring ADA compliance (38%) or requiring a minimum number of nights per stay (48%)
17. What zoning districts are STRs in and what would be the impact of Z-20-69?
    • About 37% of the city’s Short Term Rentals would be prohibited under Z-20-69.
    • Click here for more details on our zoning study.
    • Click here for the Z-20-69 Fact Sheet.
    • Click here for the Z-20-69 Ordinance.
18. What would be the impact of the ATL Neighbors proposal?
    • About 1,028 Short Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) would be allowed in Atlanta and distributed across the city. The proposal would result in an expected 45% reduction in the number of Short Term Vacation Rentals.
    • Click here for more details on our impact study.
    • Click here for more details on the proposal.

Community Input

ATL Neighbors contacted every neighborhood organization in the city's neighborhood directory and asked them to complete the questionnaire. ATL Neighbors wants to make sure that all voices in the city are heard. If you have not already done so, please complete the online community questionnaire and policy questionnaire.

Results

The results of the Atlanta Short Term Rental Community Questionnaire and the Atlanta Short Term Rental Policy Questionnaire are now available. ATL Neighbors would like to thank everyone for taking the time to participate and provide substantive feedback.

Volunteers

Please contact ATL neighbors if you are interested in volunteering to help with fact finding efforts. Volunteers with experience in public policy, city planning, law, web development, data science, data visualization, public relations or community outreach are of particular interest.

Stay in Touch

If you would like email updates please join the ATL Neighbors email list.

1. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/37965671 ↩︎
2. https://library.municode.com/ga/atlanta/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOORENOR_CH30BU_ARTXIHOLORO ↩︎
3. https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2745/occupancy-tax-collection-and-remittance-by-airbnb-in-georgia ↩︎
4. City of Atlanta FY 2019 General Fund Budget Overview ↩︎