Detroit Quietly Bans Airbnb (curbed.com)

A new zoning ordinance that quietly went into effect this week has residents trying to figure out what comes next for Airbnb's presence in Detroit. Many hosts have received notices that the city has outlawed Airbnb for R1 and R2 zoning. Curbed Detroit reports: The new zoning ordinance apparently went through the Planning Commission and City Council in 2017, and went into effect this week. The text added to the amendment states: "Use of a dwelling to accommodate paid overnight guests is prohibited as a home occupation; notwithstanding this regulation, public accommodations, including bed and breakfast inns outside the R1 and R2 Districts, are permitted as provided in Sec. 61-12-46 of this Code." The vast majority of Airbnb units in Detroit are in R1 and R2 districts. These do not include places like lofts, apartments, or larger developments. Airbnb has issued a statement saying: "We're very disappointed by this turn of events. Airbnb has served as an economic engine for middle class Detroiters, many of whom rely on the supplemental income to stay in their homes. We hope that the city listens to our host community and permits home sharing in these residential zones."

Comments

Not so sure about this

[rsilvergun]

I don't like AirBnB. They drive up home prices and contribute to making home ownership unaffordable. They make it practical for investors to 'park' their money into real estate and keep houses off the market. There's a great case to be made for banning them in any competitive housing market

But isn't Detroit the furthest thing from a competitive housing market? Then again, while a lot of the city is in ruins for all I know the number of actual livable houses might be smaller. Lord knows nobody's going to build there.

Re:Not so sure about this

[Anonymous Coward]

I live in a neighborhood with one house that is full time AirBnB, and the other two have guests intermittently(a lot). I can tell you this. Get ready for your on street parking to turn into a clusterfuck that it wasn't before. Now there is a constantly changing inventory of cars, taking up all the on street parking in my neighborhood because now people want to turn their houses into motels. Imagine if these were full time "guests" or roommates. Then a least it would be the same cars, that usually(because that is what people do) park in the same places and people know whose cars they are.

This influx of random cars causes problems every week with trash pickup and in the winter, snow removal. It's a mess!

Re:Who does this help?

[Obfuscant]

A property should be able to do most anything they want with their property, including deriving profit from it as much as possible, that's a reason you OWN property in many cases.

So I'll buy the house next to yours and open a disco. I can do "most anything I want", right? During the day, it will be an auto-repair shop, with vehicles pending repair parked in all the on-street parking. If you are in the right state, I'll also operate a dispensary and grow operation.

Zoning laws exist for a reason. Residential is residential, not commercial, for a reason. If you own a house you might appreciate that differentiation.

that's a reason you OWN property in many cases.

That's not the main reason most people own residential property, especially R1 or R2. They own it to live there. That's why it is single and two family zoned. And they want to be able to sell it for a reasonable price when they move away and not have to take a loss because the next door neighbor is operating a business next door.

and there are ALWAYS winners an losers in life.

Some of the "losses" is living in a residential zone and living by residential zoning rules. Although most people would consider it a win considering property values.

Re:Darn and I wanted to visit Detroit!

[Balthisar]

Conceived of in 1971 and opened in 1977, the Renaissance Center was heralded as the Renaissance of Detroit. I only bring this up because I find it interesting that you chose the wording "Detroit Renaissance."

Detroit's important symbolically to my region (SE Michigan), and I think that most of us would like to see it "come back," at least as far as the city center is concerned. Realistically, it should probably un-anex most of the communities it absorbed over the last 100 years and concentrate on its strengths.

Right now, "Detroit" as a legal entity kind of drags down the region as a whole, which is unfortunate because we're all "Detroit" (as far as the country is concerned), but we don't exhibit Detroit's problems, as far as the political entity is concerned.