Paradise Valley revises amendments addressing short-term rentals

PHOENIX — The Paradise Valley Town Council on Thursday passed various amendments to the town’s code addressing short-term rentals in an effort to protect the health and safety of the community.

The revisions aim to reduce nuisance complaints for all residents, prohibit the use of short-term rentals for inappropriate purposes, and to protect public health and safety.

“Our citizens have spoken. The most pressing issue facing our residents is the disruption caused by short-term rentals in our neighborhoods,” Mayor Jerry Bien-Willner said in a press release.

“They also disproportionately burden and expose to risk our police and other first responders.”

As a majority of nuisance complaints received by the police come from the rentals, the new amendment states it is a violation to make plainly audible noises from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. or from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. during the summer, which the amendment states is from May through September, according to the town’s code.  

Moving forward, Paradise Valley will require and make publicly available the owner’s name and contact information, the short-term rentals physical address and phone number, and local and emergency contact’s information.

The town will also require that the rentals share its online advertisement, booking dates and compliance with operating standards, health and safety requirements.

Those that neglect to register with the town or county assessor will receive a $150 per day fee for renting or accepting a fee for booking an unregistered short-term rental, the release said.

Pushing for a safer environment, the town has also prohibited short-term rental owners from housing sex offenders.

Background checks will now be performed on all renters to guarantee there aren’t registered sex offenders at the property, according to the release.

Additional health and safety standards have been added, including liability insurance, home safety systems, pest control and cleaning between bookings following CDC guidelines.

“After a great deal of input from the public, our Council has clearly stated that the status quo is not acceptable — and that action was needed to put in place health and safety measures to protect our community,” Mark Stanton, Paradise Valley town councilmember, said in a press release.

“These amendments restore some balance between the rights of the short-term rentals and the rights of the community.”

One local resident, Bill Hunter, said the quality of life in the neighborhoods have gone down due to some people in the short-term rental industry.

“There new amendments are an important first step toward making our community safer, but we still need comprehensive, statewide reform to fic the huge problem with rogue short-term rentals in Arizona,” Hunter said.

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