Murray changes policy around short-term rentals, hopes to avoid crunch

MURRAY — Demand for short-term rentals like Airbnb has Murray changing its city policy. Before Tuesday night they weren’t allowed, but the city council voted to change that, at least in part.

Murray wants to address Airbnb demand but doesn’t want to lose a bunch of homes to Airbnb and create a housing crunch, so city leaders came up with a balance and passed an ordinance 4-1 allowing some short-term rentals.

That means, starting in January people can legally own and operate one type of short-term rental in Murray. During Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Planning Division Manager Zachary Smallwood gave the council his proposal for which type they should allow.

“Right now, what we’re proposing is “hosted sharing” which means owners are present during the guest stay,” said Zachary Smallwood, Murray Planning Division Manager.

That means traditional Airbnbs where you rent the whole house, while the homeowner is gone, still won’t be allowed, but Murray didn’t want to outlaw them altogether.

“We understand that some people need to rent out a room every once in a while, and we want to allow people to do that,” said Smallwood.

The city has been grappling with what to do with short-term rentals for the last six months. Murray wanted to avoid legal challenges to a loophole in the city code confusing Airbnbs already here, now city leaders think they’ve got it figured out.

“It will require a permit through the city and allow you to rent a portion of your home for less than 30 days,” said Smallwood.

For those other types of Airbnbs already in Murray, the city plans to grandfather them in, but not allow any more. City leaders figure they need to get ahead of it now because they heard the state legislature is planning to address short-term rentals in the Spring.