Short-term rental laws go into effect Friday

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — After more than two years of debate, laws go into effect Friday regulating short-term rentals like Airbnb’s.

Although some members of city council argued that allowing these types of rentals could endanger the city, council ultimately voted January 22 to allow them with some restrictions.

Homeowners must be within 25 miles of the rental and be accessible for 24 hours per day as well as have guaranteed parking per one bedroom.

Any house in a non-residential area of Wilmington can be a short-term rental.

In residential areas, whole house rentals must be at least 400 feet apart, which could create problems for neighbors who both want to rent out their homes.

“The staff will have to have some kind of lottery system if more than one person wants to have it within a certain area,” said Wilmington city councilman Paul Lawler. “The first thing will be to look at the existing ones, and see which ones have been operating legally, and which ones have been operating illegally, and the illegal ones will have to shut down in a period of time.”

Lawler says before anything happens, staff must identify which houses are eligible, and use new software to help enforce rules.