Peoria City Council adopted a new ordinance to address short-term rentals within the city, Oct 18.
This type of rental — a property rented-out by the owner for 29-days or less — has seen a meteoric rise in recent years and become a $15 billion industry in the United States with an estimated $350 million raised in Arizona tax revenue in 2020.
Such has been the case in Peoria where there are around 550 homes/rooms up for short-term rent throughout the city.
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real estate
Peoria council adopts short-term rental ordinance
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Short-term rentals
Here are some key provisions in Peoria’s short-term rental ordinance.
Permit Regulation
Using in-house technology, STR property owners will be required to register their property with the city.
• Online, No Fee, One-time registration
• Update only when use changes or sale of property
• Owner must comply with this and all other regulatory requirements
Emergency Contact
STRs to be required to have designated emergency contact to respond to complaints and emergencies “in a timely manner”
• If emergency and requested by a Police Officer, contact must be onsite within sixty minutes of the request.
• If non-emergency, contact must be made within 24 hours
Neighborhood Notification
STR property owners will be required to notify properties adjacent to, directly and diagonally behind and across the street for single-family residential and those on the same floor of a multi-family residential building.
• Purpose is to provide contact info to encourage Good Neighbor practices and neighborhood mediation
• Consistent with other Peoria neighborhood notification and community engagement practices
Sex Offender Background Checks
STR property owners will be required to conduct sex offender background checks on booking guests if not already completed through an online lodging market place (i.e. –Vrbo or Airbnb).
Insurance
STR property owners will be required to have liability insurance of $500k if not already provided through an online lodging marketplace.
Advertisements
STR property owners will be required to display City registration number on all advertisements.
Civil Penalties
A “Verified Violation” means a finding of guilt or civil responsibility for violating any state law or local ordinance. Fines:
• Up to $500 for the first verified violation
• Up to $1,000 for the second verified violation in a12-month period
• Up to $3,500 for the third and any subsequent verified violation in a12-month period
Permit Suspension
A SRT permit can be suspended for up to 12 months if:
• There are three “Verified Violations” within a rolling 12-month period; or
• One “Verified Violation” resulting in:
•A felony offense
•A serious physical injury or wrongful death
•Sexual offender or Adult Oriented Business use
•STR Owner knowingly or intentionally allows a non-residential use
Peoria City Council adopted a new ordinance to address short-term rentals within the city, Oct 18.
This type of rental — a property rented-out by the owner for 29-days or less — has seen a meteoric rise in recent years and become a $15 billion industry in the United States with an estimated $350 million raised in Arizona tax revenue in 2020.
Such has been the case in Peoria where there are around 550 homes/rooms up for short-term rent throughout the city.
The state legislature has stepped in, creating laws regulating the industry in Arizona, and now Peoria has adopted their own law, specific to the city.
City Manager Jeff Tyne said that with recent state legislative actions, the city has new opportunities to address some of the higher profile issues that have come about due to the growth in the short-term rental industry.
“We have seen an incredible surge in short-term rentals over the last several years,” he said. “With the growth of lodging rental programs such as Airbnb and the like, we have seen a proliferation of these home rental arrangements throughout the state and also here in Peoria. With this growth does come a number of different challenges.”
The Arizona state legislature has enacted at least three laws regulating short-term rentals, most recently, earlier this year the governor signed into law SB 1168, which went into effect Sept. 24, allowing municipalities to adopt and enforce residential use and zoning ordinances, as well as limit or prohibit the use of a rental for specific purposes.
A study session on this topic was held, Sept. 13.
Neighborhood and Human Services Director Chris Hallett said the new city ordinance includes good neighbor practices and neighborhood mediation that is consistent with other Peoria neighborhood notification and community engagement practices.
With so many rentals throughout the Peoria, the city wants to make it easy for people to come into compliance as well as make it easy on the front-end with accountability on the back-end, he said.
“The law allows us to really have good opportunities for transparency on what is going on in people’s neighborhoods,” he said.
The new ordinance aligns with the state law by including civil penalties and/or registration suspension for violators.
Mayor Cathy Carlat said she wishes the state law were stricter.
“I’m in support of not charging a fee to get as many people registered as we can,” Carlat said. “We are not looking to make money off this, but we are looking to be able to know who to contact in case of an issue, and have a little more handle on this.”
Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman.
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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