Curry: We need balanced policies for short-term rentals
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By Linda Curry
About a year ago, my husband and I built an ADA-friendly guesthouse on our property with the expectation that we’ll eventually use it to look after our aging parents. In the meantime, we’ve used it as a vacation rental to help pay for its construction costs.
It is important to us that our guests respect our neighborhood — we live here, too. We have taken steps to ensure we don’t have disturbances. Besides vetting our guests and establishing rules, our neighborhood shares contact information should there be a problem, yet with four vacation rentals on our street, we’ve had zero complaints.
The vast majority of vacation-rental owners are like my husband and I: people who love their neighborhood, follow the rules and contribute to the community. But I also recognize that not all neighborhoods have had the same experience.
As a community champion with the Arizonans for Responsible Tourism Recovery coalition, I am personally committed to working with other vacation rental owners and our local government to prevent noise and disturbance issues and protect Arizona’s tourism economy. That’s why I support SB 1379, a policy solution that achieves these goals and allows responsible hosts like myself to continue housing Arizona visitors. I hope to see this bill enacted into law and urge Rep. Parker and Rep. Fillmore to back it.
Editor’s note: Linda Curry is a vacation rental owner who lives in northeast Mesa.
