A committee created by the Metro Council to hammer out regulations governing short term rentals in the parish will begin meeting early next year.
But don’t look for any proposed legislation any time soon. The committee hasn’t even set a meeting schedule yet. Once it does, it will likely be next fall before anything is ready to bring before the council.
“This is not going to be a quick thing,” says Nancy Curry, president of the Federation of Greater Baton Rouge Civic Associations, who is chairing the committee. “We are going to be as careful as we can so we don’t make mistakes and don’t get sued because once you pass something in an ordinance it’s hard to take it away.”
After months of controversy over the growing number of properties offered for short term rental on platforms like Airbnb—particularly in the historic Spanish Town neighborhood—the Metro Council in October passed a resolution calling for the creation of a committee to study the issue and help draft legislation.
The measure called for Curry’s organization to work with Planning Director Frank Duke on the issue. But both Curry and Duke say because it was late in the year and the holiday season was approaching, they thought it best to put off meeting until January.
Curry has identified stakeholders that will be represented on the committee. They include: the Historic Spanish Town Civic Association, Preserve Louisiana, Downtown Development District, the local chapter of the Louisiana Hotel and Lodging Association, Airbnb, the planning department, Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors and the federation.
“Once we find out what everybody’s pros and cons are we won’t have another meeting until we compose something, then we’ll throw that out there and get feedback,” she says. “I think we can come up with something that will work.”
