The shooting of an Airbnb handyman while trying to break up a party has prompted Cincinnati Councilman David Mann to say the city needs to take a closer look at the owners, too.
Mann said the city has rules governing short-term rental units aimed at making sure they're not nuisance properties. He's proposing a motion asking the administration to review the rules to make sure they're being followed and whether the rules go far enough to protect neighborhoods tired of noisy parties.
The motion will be referred to the Law and Public Safety Committee when Cincinnati City Council resumes after summer break.
"It's the property owner who has the short-term registration with the city and therefore if there are problems, the city can look directly to the property owner," Mann said. "If the property owner truly had no knowledge of the party that is one thing, but I bet some of these property owners do know what is going on. It's up to the city to enforce our provisions."
Short-term rental property owners and Airbnb, one of the largest companies of short-term rentals, have said that since the on-set of the coronavirus pandemic, pop-up parties have become an issue as people look to skirt bar and club closures and here in Ohio, the 10 p.m. last call law for serving alcohol.
On Aug. 16, Stephen Knight, 31, was shot trying to break up a party in a short-term rental in Pendelton. Knight was attacked and shot in the back, according to police. The attack remains under investigation with no arrests made. Airbnb said it plans to sue the renter.
Eric Haberthier, who leads the Greater Cincinnati Owners Airbnb Association, said owners are doing what they're supposed to. In the four Airbnb parties he is aware that broke the rules around occupancy and noise this year the owners immediately contacted the guest and told them to end the party. And when they didn't, the owners called the police immediately, he said.
"David Mann's motion is a shameful and insulting act of victim-blaming," said Chris Hikel, who owns a short-term rental company including the property where the Aug. 16 shooting happened. "(Mann) should retract it immediately and become part of the solution. Nobody wants their home vandalized and turned into a party house.
"A person literally took a bullet in the back trying to shut down a party," Hikel added. "Small business owners have had to mop up the nuisance culture that the city has allowed to fester in its public places... Mann's motion contributes nothing at all to the conversation."
Mann authored the city's short-term rental legislation, which took effect in July 2019.
It requires short-term rental owners to register with the city and keep their properties in compliance with city building, zoning, housing and fire codes, which, if followed, would prohibit large, noisy parties. Units with three nuisances complaints could be shut down. That includes complaints of noise level, exceeding maximum occupancy levels of a building, criminal activity and illegal parking.
In Cincinnati there are currently 277 approved short-term registrations. Specific location information was not immediately available.
There are a handful of short-term rental companies. Airbnb had banned house parties in November and due to COVID-19 further restricted the number of people allowed at rentals. It also removed the ability to search for rentals scheduled for events.
"Airbnb has no tolerance for unauthorized parties, which are expressly banned in its community standards," the company said in a news release last week.
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August 26, 2020 at 01:56AM
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Cincinnati Airbnb operator calls proposed city crackdown 'shameful ... victim-blaming.' - The Cincinnati Enquirer
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