Short Term Rental regulation needs pause
A risky scheme endangers Wimberley overnight tourism lodging availability.
The Wimberley City Council is considering adopting a risky scheme that will likely significantly curtail overnight tourism in Wimberley by reducing the number of Short Term Rental (STR) lodgings available for visitors. STR is the official term for homes or individual bedrooms offered to tourists for vacation or Bed & Breakfast overnight lodging. Based on premature recommendations from the months-old STR Advisory Committee, the Wimberley City Council is considering sweeping new enforcement policies as well as changes to city ordinances and building codes related to STRs operating within the city limits. Any such far-reaching decisions are premature as the STR Advisory Committee has not gathered the basic data necessary for City Council to make an informed decision.
While the STR Advisory Committee asserts there are approximately 200 STRs operating inside the city limits, they admitted at a recent workshop with Planning and Zoning that the Committee had not conducted a basic Economic Impact Study of their proposed new enforcement, ordinance and building code scheme. The STR Advisory Committee’s proposal, per the City Administrator, will likely significantly reduce the lodging available for visitors, which will undoubtedly reduce overnight tourism and negatively impact the businesses, employees, suppliers and contractors who rely on the tourism industry.
Since the STR Advisory Committee has not seen fit to conduct an Economic Impact Study, let me offer some perspective on just three of the asserted 200 STRs operating in town. One of the three is owned by my family and all three are located close to the Blanco River. These three STR’s range from accommodating 4 to as many as 10 guests per night. Last year during the “peak” tourist season (May 1 through Labor Day, Sept 7) these three properties combined were rented for 240 nights with an average of 6 people per night. 240 nights times 6 people = 1440 “people nights”. To put this into terms meaningful to our local businesses, this is means 1440 breakfasts at The Wimberley Café, 1440 burgers or wings at Ino’z, 1440 pizzas at Community Pizza or the equivalent from Brookshire Bros., or HEB, or elsewhere. Additionally, this means 1440 potential visits to a combination of Wall Street Western, Kiss the Cook, The Cedar Chest, Art on 12 or any of the dozens of other wonderful shops and art galleries in town. All from only three properties that are offered for vacation lodging during the peak season.
Imagine the economic impact if those three STRs were no longer available for summer vacation stays. Now imagine if the proposal under consideration by City Council resulted in the loss of 30, or 50 or 100 short term rental options out of the 200 estimated by the STR Advisory Committee. The potential economic impact on our waiters and waitresses, our cooks and busboys, our shop keepers and artist would be devastating. The people who would bear the brunt of reduced overnight lodging availability in the City of Wimberley are our neighbors, our friends, our family members. For the STR Advisory Committee to push forward their proposal without the guidance of an Economic Impact Study seems reckless.
In order to gather data on STRs operating in the city limits, City Council has recently contracted with an out-of-state cyber-sleuth company to search websites such as airbnb and Vacation Rental by Owner to identify residences advertised for Short Term Rental. The data gathering contract costs $10,00 and runs for one year. The first round of the STR discovery data will be provided to the city at the end of this month with periodic additional reports throughout the year.
It seems reasonable to postpone any votes on the scheme put forth by the STR Advisory Committee until City Council has received a full year’s worth of reports from the cyber-sleuth company and conducted a thorough review of the data received. At that point, City Council can make an informed determination as to whether any changes in the enforcement structures, ordinances or building codes are warranted and also conduct an Economic Impact Study in order to assess whether the proposed changes would negatively impact the businesses, employees, shop keepers, artists, suppliers and contractors who rely upon the tourism industry. Such a cost/benefit analysis is simply good public policy.
I urge City Council to pause, analyze STR data as it becomes available throughout the year, and carefully consider Economic Impact prior to making any changes in the existing STR ordinances.
Ned Murphy is a forensic auditor by trade and founder of a contract compliance auditing firm now in its 26th year. In addition to auditing, Murphy is a STR owner, vineyard operator, and soon to be winemaker of Hill Country grown, produced and bottled wines.