PC to consider proposed STR regulations
Short-term rentals are back on the Louisa County Planning Commission’s agenda.
After convening several work sessions where they discussed draft STR rules, commissioners will hold a public hearing and consider whether to recommend to the Board of Supervisors approval of a proposed ordinance that would sanction and regulate the temporary lodging option.
STRs have exploded in popularity over the last several years especially in vacation destinations like Lake Anna. They’ve drawn tourists to the lake for short stays and investors who’ve scooped up waterside properties and, in turn, offered them for rent. For the last two years, the property management firm, Vacasa, named Lake Anna as the best place to buy a vacation home in the country, citing the potential for a hefty return on investment.
The proliferation of STRs around the lake has stirred controversy with some year-round residents arguing that the rentals are businesses operating in residential neighborhoods that threaten the character of their community, public safety and the health of the lake. They’ve specifically cited concerns that overcrowded STRs could lead to septic system failures that harm the lake’s water quality and urged the county to regulate the rentals by adopting an occupancy cap and other rules.
Many STR operators and business owners take a different view, contending that short-term rentals are essential to the lake’s tourism industry and strictly regulating them could decimate the local economy. Some STR owners say that they have a right to do what they want with their property just like their neighbors, noting that the county isn’t trying to regulate how many guests those who don’t run short-term rentals can have at their home.
In response to community concerns, county officials have been struggling with how to address short-term rentals for more than a year. Though the use isn’t permitted by-right in county code, more than 460 STRs are operating here, according to figures from the Commissioner of the Revenue’s office, which tracks the rentals to collect the county’s two percent transiency occupancy tax. Most, but not all, are clustered around the lake.
County officials drew on a section of state code that allows for the establishment of a short-term rental registry, among other rules, to draft an ordinance last year that would’ve strictly regulated STRs county-wide, mandating a two-person per bedroom occupancy cap unless state regulators approved more occupants, regular septic system inspections and annual registration.
But those regulations—particularly the occupancy cap—met stiff resistance from the Louisa County Chamber of Commerce, realtors and others in the business community who warned of the potential impact on tourism. Several STR owners urged the county to conduct an economic impact study before holding public hearings on the regulations.
The county didn’t move forward with the study, but did shelve the initial proposal, citing concerns that the state legislature would change how it allows localities to regulate STRs.
Officials have since put another proposal on the table that seeks to sanction and regulate STRs through the county’s zoning code, where the state gives localities more latitude to make their own rules. The commission on Thursday night will consider the draft and potentially recommend changes. Prior to their regular meeting, commissioners will hold one more work session to discuss the proposal.
What’s in the proposed ordinance
Broadly, the proposed rules impose some regulations on STRs in densely populated areas where they’ve seemingly caused the most concern while largely avoiding regulations in the county’s most rural reaches.
The ordinance defines an STR as “the rental of a dwelling for periods of 30 days or less” and designates it as a commercial use. It permits STRs by-right with some restrictions on property zoned residential (R-1 GAOD, R-2 GAOD) in the county’s designated growth areas, as defined in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, as well as on property zoned for Resort Development (RD) and Planned Unit Development (PUD). Most waterfront real estate on Lake Anna is zoned residential and in a growth area. Spring Creek and Blue Ridge Shores are the two largest communities zoned for resort development. As currently proposed, STRs operating in these zoning designations would be required to:
provide a point of contact for their property to Louisa County and its subdivision’s governing body, if applicable;
provide to tenants a copy of Louisa County code sections pertaining to noise and solid waste as well as the definitions for Special Occasion Facilities and Gatherings as part of short-term rental contracts.
inform tenants that using the property for a special event typically held at a special occasion facility—a wedding, for example—is prohibited unless the property has a valid Conditional Use Permit;
provide tenants with at least one designated off-street parking space per bedroom and an off-street parking space for a trailer (20 ft by 8 ft);
provide to Louisa County documentation of septic system inspections and repairs whenever they are completed, if applicable;
comply with all applicable state building code and safety regulations;
If STR owners didn’t follow those rules, they would be required to obtain a Conditional Use Permit from the Board of Supervisors.
STRs operating inside or outside of growth areas in industrial (IND, I-1, I-2) and commercial (C-1, C-2) zoning designations would require a CUP as would STRs operating in residential zoning designations outside of growth areas. Short-term rentals in agricultural zoning (A-1, A-2) inside or outside a growth area would be permitted by-right and not subject to the rules governing STRs on residentially zoned property in growth areas.
The county wouldn’t impose rules on STRs in agricultural zoning to comply with an opinion that Attorney General Jason Miyares published earlier this year. The opinion essentially says that localities can’t use their zoning code to regulate short-term rentals on agricultural land because the use is considered agritourism.
If adopted, the ordinance would take effect on January 1, 2025.