Follow-Up Public Safety Committee Hearing on Short-Term Rentals - April 22, 2026
Follow-Up Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee Hearing on Short-Term Rentals - April 22, 2026
Councilmember Emmanuel Reemy, chair of the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, convened a follow-up hearing to revisit short-term rental (STR) regulations in Columbus. The hearing was exploratory and informative; no legislation was voted on. The purpose was to review prior discussions, hear updated recommendations from city staff, and gather public feedback to modernize the city's STR framework. The committee aims to introduce legislation before council recess in July 2026.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Nat Shepard (STR operator) expressed support for online license renewals and platform tax remittance, but encouraged higher fines for unlicensed operators to match potential profits. He also suggested collecting more detailed license types (owner-occupied vs. non-owner-occupied) and using the rental registry for neighbor notification instead of paper notices.
- Jeff Smith (Airbnb community manager, Columbus Host Alliance) stated that existing regulations have reduced problems and that Airbnb has strengthened anti-party measures. He supported streamlining permits, opposed mandatory neighbor notification as impractical, and urged the city to compel platforms to share data.
- Willie Jones (STR host) described an incident where police could not remove unruly guests from his property, leading to a shootout with 47 bullet holes and a guest being shot. He requested clearer authority for hosts to cancel reservations and for police to enforce trespassing. Council noted that a trespass authorization form filed with police may help, and committed to further discussion with the division.
- Susan Sommerfeld (Harrison West resident) raised concerns about parking, high occupancy (large houses functioning like hotels), and poor exterior maintenance at some STRs. She appreciated the proposals but noted enforcement challenges. Council encouraged her to use 311 and escalate code enforcement issues.
- Michael Shibko (STR host) asked to be allowed to combine listings for a duplex into a single listing for larger groups, citing that his property is well-managed and that prohibitions penalize responsible hosts for others' bad behavior.
- Ryan McFadden (host and realtor) supported most proposals but urged caution on occupancy changes due to investment reliance on current rules, suggested grandfathering, and advocated for using the rental registry for neighbor notification. He also asked for clarity on the trespass authorization framework.
- Christoph Schiller (Harrison West resident) described a severe nuisance property on West Fourth Street consisting of four townhouse units listed as separate STRs, advertising up to 50 guests, with frequent parties, police calls, and violent incidents. He noted the operator was removed from Airbnb/Vrbo but runs his own website, effectively operating as a de facto hotel. He demanded the city take action. Council directed the department to meet with the owner alongside the city attorney's office to address both STR and nuisance issues.
- Jeremiah Logier (STR host) requested a higher bedroom limit, stating his nine-bedroom Victorian mansion cannot be rented as a single unit due to the current five-bedroom maximum, forcing him to split it. He noted 80% of guests are multigenerational family groups.
Discussion Items
- Recap (Dr. Tanisha Pruitt): The first hearing highlighted the need for a trespass authorization in the permitting process to allow police immediate access to properties. Current challenges include unauthorized parties, noise, trash, violence, parking, housing supply concerns, and administrative burdens on responsible owners. There are 1,535 current STR permits, most for non-primary residences, and 1,600 tax accounts (1,200 active) with a 5.1% excise lodging tax. The committee plans to explore automatic tax remittance by platforms.
- Proposed Code Changes (Tony Celebrisi, Deputy Director of Building and Zoning Services):
- Create a new city code chapter in Title V to consolidate STR regulations.
- Implement a fully online registration and renewal system with simplified renewal affidavits and reduced renewal fees.
- Require notification to neighbors within 125 feet of the property line at initial registration or renewal.
- Establish graduated fines for non-compliant listings (e.g., $50, $250, $500) and consider fines based on severity of offenses.
- Set an overnight occupancy limit of two persons per bedroom plus two additional guests, with safety inspections required for basement bedrooms.
- Introduce a non-overnight occupancy maximum to address parties.
- Encourage use of trespass authorization letters to allow police to remove non-overnight guests above the occupancy limit.
- For residential buildings with four or more units, require a hotel/motel license if 25% or more of units are used as STRs, ensuring appropriate safety features.
- Explore automatic tax remittance by platforms, though technical challenges with the auditor's office remain.
- Council Q&A: Topics included the practicality of neighbor notification, the need for an annual report to council on licenses and violations, the potential for system integration between police and licensing databases, and the distinction between STRs and hotel/motel code. Councilmember Reemy requested the department involve the city attorney's office when meeting with the operator of the West Fourth nuisance property. Councilmember Ross asked about proactive compliance checks and inter-department data sharing.
Key Outcomes
- No legislation was passed; the hearing was solely for information gathering.
- The committee plans to introduce STR legislation before the July 2026 council recess.
- A final public comment period will be held before legislation is drafted; further feedback is welcome through Councilmember Reemy's office.
- Council formally requested that the Department of Building and Zoning Services meet with the owner of the West Fourth property along with the city attorney's office to address nuisance and STR violations using existing code.
- The committee committed to exploring technology improvements for system integration and data sharing to improve enforcement efficiency.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to this follow-up public safety and criminal justice committee hearing on short-term rentals in the city of Columbus. Today is an opportunity to revisit what we heard at our first hearing, hear updated recommendations from city staff, and continue gathering public feedback on what changes to city code and city policy may be appropriate moving forward. I'm Councilmember Emmanuel Reemy, chair of the public safety and criminal justice committee. And I want to thank my colleagues for joining us here today. That's Councilmember T.R. Ross, the vice chair of the committee. Councilmember Chris Weich, and we are also joined by Dr. Tanisha Pruitt, the legislative analyst who will begin with a recap of our first hearing. Tony Celebrisi, the deputy director of the Department of Building and Zoning Services, and then Miss Wendy Boots for being here this today. So we're looking forward to hearing further from the Department of Building and Zoning Services. We certainly value our partnership, and it's been uh, you know, long time coming working through these things, but certainly uh we appreciate all the work that you put into this. Um, Director Scott Messer, of course, and all the team over there for you know thought working thoughtfully since our first hearing to identify the best path forward. We appreciate that partnership and the time that you put in to this work. A reminder that this hearing is live on YouTube and Facebook and is also being recorded for rebroadcast on CTV, Columbus's government television. Um, if you do wish to speak, um, please make sure that you see one of my staff, Miss Nancy Soley or um Pedro Mejia and provide a speak a speaker slip. I want to first level set before we begin. This hearing is an ex is exploratory and informative in nature. No legislation is before us today for a vote. Our purpose is to take a fresh look at our short-term rental framework and determine what should be updated, clarified, or modernized in response to changes in the market and what we have heard from residents and city staff. The city first adopted short-term legislation in 2018 and updated again in 2021. It is appropriate for council to revisit this code every few years, so our policies remain responsive to how the short-term mark rental market is evolving. That is what today is a refresh, an honest look at what may need to change. And so we have heard clearly from residents that in the worst cases, in the worst cases, short-term rentals can affect daily life in serious ways. Unauthorized parties, noise, trash, violence, parking issues, and impacts on neighborhood character. Those concerns matter, and this council takes those things very seriously. At the same time, it's also important to say clearly that most short-term rentals operate within the rules and are being run by owners who are good stewards of their properties and their neighborhoods. Our goal should not be to place unnecessary burdens on responsible operators. Our goal should be to create a system that is modern and enforceable, efficient, and fair, one that supports compliance but gives the city better tools to address bad actors and problematic properties. Today will help us move forward towards that balance. We will continue the excuse me. We will hear the recap, hear proposed changes, hear from residents, and continue working toward potential legislation before council recess in July. If I would like to see if my colleagues have anything they'd like to add before we get started. All right. Well, it's without further ado, I would like to turn the floor over to our first presenter, Dr. Tanisha Pruitt, legislative analyst who will provide an overview of our previous short-term rental hearing. Dr. Pruitt, the floor is yours. Thank you, uh, Chair Reamy and Vice Chair Ross and Councilmember Weish for the opportunity to come and set up our conversation here today around short-term rentals. Um just as a recap of where we currently are. This is not working. Next slide. Okay. We uh held a hearing, the first hearing around this conversation uh last year, and during that uh conversation, what sort of came from that was that uh Deputy Chief Weir shared the need to include a trespass authorization as part of the permitting process. So that would allow officers to enter the property as well as remove um anyone on the property who was causing some sort of violation or disturbance. Um he said that if the trespass authorization was in place with the permitting process, this would not have to be an issue. Um, and officers could immediately respond to calls for service and not have to find the owner before they can uh enter the property. So it just allows for a little bit more of a streamlined process to um for officers to respond to any situations that may arise. For the current permitting process, um we initially passed short-term rental legislation back in 2018. Um that then had a modification in 2019 where they sort of added uh provisions around background checks for host and a regulatory sort of tax framework. Um, and then there was a last modification in 2021, and that was to sort of strengthen enforcement around short-term rentals.
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