The city of Arnold has banned short-term residential renting as an alternative to traditional lodging establishments.
City Council members voted 6-0 on Sept. 15 to prohibit short-term rentals within the city, except at hotels or motels. Councilmen Jason Fulbright of Ward 1 and Brian McArthur of Ward 2 were not at the meeting.
“It is a blanket prohibition on Airbnb-type setups,” City Administrator Bryan Richison said. “You can’t put your house on Airbnb or a similar service.”
Airbnb is an online marketplace that allows homeowners to rent out either their homes or a room in their home to someone looking for short-term accommodations in certain areas. A similar online service, which also is banned in Arnold, is Vacation Rentals by Owner (Vrbo).
Prior to the council banning the practice of short-term home rentals, Arnold did not have any rules regulating the practice.
Richison said city staff members are not aware of anyone operating a short-term, rental-type business in Arnold, and the city has not received complaints about short-term rental operations.
“It is to be proactive,” he said of outlawing short-term home rentals. “We want to be ahead of it and have something in place, so if we do have a problem we have a tool to deal with it.
“I think the feeling was it is not something that really fits with the character of our neighborhoods. It also wasn’t going to be a good thing for our city, so we prohibited it.”
Richison said someone operating a short-term home rental in Arnold would be in violation of a city ordinance. He said the offender would be issued a citation to appear in Arnold Municipal Court.
Richison said someone who violates the ordinance could be sentenced up to 90 days in jail and fined up to $500.
“I have a hard time envisioning a judge locking anyone up for this or fining them $500, unless there are extenuating circumstances,” he said. “I would imagine it would be a fairly minor fine, at least for the first violation.”
Richison said the city will not deploy police officers or code enforcement officers to seek short-term rental operations in Arnold. However, he did say if a city staff member suspects a property is being used in that manner, officials will investigate the situation.
“Most likely, it will be investigated after we receive a complaint,” Richison said.
Residents may report suspected code violations on the Community Development page of the city’s website, arnoldmo.org, or by calling 636-282-6625.