KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Neighbors throughout pockets of Kansas City, Missouri, are gathering to create solutions for the ongoing rise of short-term rentals.
“We began hearing directly from neighborhoods and neighborhood leaders a while ago that particularly short-term rentals, the Type 2, were having a significant impact on quality of life,” said Tiffany Moore, Kansas City Neighborhood Advisory Council 6th District director. “That hits the heart of what the neighborhood advisory council looks to preserve and to protect because that is an important part of why folks chose to live in Kansas City.”
The council has hosted three workshops over the past few months to find solutions to issues related to short-term rentals, researching how other cities have dealt with the growth of this industry.
“There are two ways to approach a problem. You can be on the cutting edge, and you can be a fast follower,” Moore said. “Kanas City is a fast follower, which means we get to see how some of these strategies have played out, what impacts they are having.”
At its next meeting come Jan. 19, KCNAC hopes to solidify its findings to eventually present to the KCMO City Council.
“We probably aren’t necessarily going to say this is the right answer,” Moore said. “But here are some strategies that could work, and this is the information we found associated with them.”
The KCMO City Council has gotten a start on ordinances of its own, looking to be prepared for a city-wide vote in April.
Ordinance No. 230014
Ordinance No. 230015
Two audits published by the city in late 2022 outline the loss of funds incurred due to a lack of permitting and inability to tax short-term rentals.
Moore believes the city needs to act fast to help people wanting to place roots within city limits.
“We have heard from some neighborhoods that entire blocks or most of a block is already converted to this business activity, so we need to move quickly because this industry is continuing to grow in all cities,” she said.
Both city ordinances will be presented Tuesday before the Special Committee for Legal Review.
