The Electric City council voted unanimously to not allow short-term rentals anywhere in the city.

Short-term rentals are instances in which a home owner who doesn’t live in a residence rents that residence out to someone for less than 30 days.

Residents Mark Jenson, Jim Bailey, and Nancy Brown attended the June 11 council meeting to speak against short-term rentals.

“I don’t believe they are compatible with residential zones,” Jenson said.

Brown said that the primary concerns with short-term rentals were “commercializing and destroying the integrity of Electric City neighborhoods,” and “the noise and nuisances of irresponsible renters.”

Brown also noted that Electric City allows “owner-occupied short-term hosted home stays.”

“These are people engaged in the community as responsible citizens, unlike the unoccupied, out-of-town, short-term renters,” Brown said.

The issue had been tabled in 2018 after Electric City residents brought the issue to the council’s attention following unpleasant experiences with vacationers.

The vacationers staying next door to the residents in a short-term renting situation were said to be making noises at all hours of the night, littering, and even wandering into their yard, as detailed in an article in The Star at that time.

After the council approved not allowing short-term rentals in the city, Councilmember Birdie Hensley suggested that maybe the code enforcer should look at short-term rental websites, such as AirBnB.com, to check for short-term rentals going on in the city.

City Clerk Russ Powers said that the citizens are already pretty good at reporting such activity.

The citizens in attendance were happy with the decision, as were the councilmembers.