RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Following a public hearing on the subject that lasted more than an hour, City Council on Tuesday (Aug. 8) voted to approve a resolution that will regulate short-term home rentals.
Although Airbnb is not specifically mentioned in the resolution’s language, council’s action comes after it has heard complaints from residents living in the vicinity of Airbnb homes that have been used for loud and sometimes rowdy parties.
Those types of complaints were again heard during the public hearing Tuesday, as were requests from a few Airbnb renters that they remain unregulated.
The approved resolution states that no person is permitted to offer a home for a short-term rental. A short-term rental is defined as renting out a home for a period of less than 30 consecutive days.
The resolution also declares that, if there is reasonable suspicion of a violation of the new regulation, by demand of a police officer or city inspector, the person in charge of the rental home must provide a copy of the rental agreement or lease.
Law Director Todd Hunt told council that if the resolution were to pass Tuesday, as an emergency on its first reading, it would need five votes. With the Aug. 1 resignation of former Ward 1 councilwoman Erron Bell and the absence Tuesday of Councilwoman-at-Large Juanita Lewis, there were only five council members present.
All five voted in favor of the regulations.
Speaking against the regulations were three Airbnb home owners. One of those owners, Sharon Solomon, wrote a letter to council stating that, although she now lives out of state, she lived for six years in her home on Euclid-Chagrin Parkway in Richmond Heights, which she’s owned since 2013.
A registered nurse and grandmother, Solomon said she was recently made aware of a loud party at the Richmond Heights home and apologized to her neighbors.
“As an Airbnb host,” Solomon wrote, “we do not personally know these people (renters who held the party). However, they do provide us with government-issued IDs, credentials or anything else we might find necessary in order for them to stay in our home.”
Solomon and a man who owns an Airbnb home on Stevens Boulevard made the point that short-term renters may be in town visiting relatives or a loved one in a hospital, or may be a pilot who has just flown in to the city’s Cuyahoga County Airport and needs to spend a night or two nearby.
Solomon said she bought the home as an investment for her later years and for her children. She wrote that she bought the home when “it was an eyesore in the neighborhood.” She stated that she renovated the home and “put a lot of sweat and tears to get it where it is today.”
Ward 4 Councilman Mark Alexander said he had been a visitor to the home under its former owner and that it was in “pristine” condition until at least 2013, featuring a lawn that “looked like it was manicured with tweezers.”
“That letter is a total fabrication,” added Stevens Boulevard resident Brian Turner. “When (Solomon) bought that house, it was in great shape.”
Turner has been a leading voice on the matter of Airbnb parties since council first heard from residents in late June. At that meeting, Council President Bobby Jordan promised residents something would be done about halting the loud parties attended by people unknown to neighbors.
Sylvia Reeves, who lives next door to an Airbnb home on Stevens, said she moved to Richmond Heights because she enjoys peace and quiet and a safe environment.
“I have become a very concerned resident,” she told council. “I’m concerned because of all the different people moving into the house (next door) for short-term purposes.
“I’ve experienced very loud music until 3:30 in the morning. I mean banging. Everything in my room was virtually vibrating.
“And then we’ve had parties with a lot of teenagers, young teens. As the gentleman (who lives) behind me said, they trashed the street, and they were very inconsiderate of their neighbors.
“I don’t have issues with Airbnbs; I just don’t want them near me.”
Another Stevens resident, Jerome Harris, told council, “I don’t know who these people (attending parties) are, and they (the renters) don’t know who they are. They could be criminals.”
Megan Smith told council she is a Richmond Heights Airbnb home owner/renter and that she has not had complaints against her home because she has a manual for renters detailing rules.
“It’s a matter of having a manual, really,” she said, noting that one of the rules in her manual is that renters cannot host parties.
Smith, who lives in her house about half the time, said Airbnb homeowners pay 3 percent of what they charge to Airbnb.
Smith prefers short-term rentals to longer stays, she said, because any damage to her home can be more quickly discovered and reported to Airbnb for a reimbursem*nt to make repairs.
New finance director
Council also approved by a 5-0 vote Mayor Kim Thomas’ recommendation of Michael Frederick as the city’s new finance director. Frederick last served for a short time as finance director in University Heights.
Highland Heights Finance Director Joseph Filippo has been filling in as Richmond Heights’ finance director since shortly after the resignation of former director Annette Harmon.
Kiwanis seeks golfers for fundraiser
The Richmond Heights Kiwanis fundraiser, The Jim Giarelli 47th annual Golf Outing, is scheduled for Aug. 20 at Pleasant Hill Golf Course, 13461 Aquilla Road in Chardon.
The four-person scramble begins with a shotgun start at 11 a.m. The cost is $110 per person and includes the greens fee, cart and light lunch, with dinner after golfing.
Also included are goody bags, door prizes and a Chinese auction.
Last year, the Richmond Heights Kiwanis was able to provide, among other things, $3,000 in scholarships to high school students who live in Richmond Heights, as well as a need-based donation of $2,000 to defray the cost of a Washington D.C. trip for eighth-grade Richmond Heights students.
The Richmond Heights Kiwanis also gave more than $2,000 in donations to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.
For more information, call Tony Miceli at 216-481-6943.
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