Maplewood residents, Nick Deccio and Adelina Mart, have used the online bed and breakfast service, Airbnb.com, as guests and hosts; on Tuesday they spoke to the City Council about allowing residents to offer their homes through the service in Maplewood.
Maplewood Planning and Zoning, on March 4, decided that a few residents offering their homes through Airbnb needed to be shut down, because B&Bs are prohibited in Maplewood, Public Works Director Anthony Traxler said.
Deccio and Mart told 40 South News by email after the meeting that the Maplewood code of ordinances actually makes no mention of bed and breakfasts, and they would talk with the city about it.
They got their chance on Tuesday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Alderman Shawn Faulkingham said the “sharing economy isn’t going away,” and said he is concerned about safety regulations, insurance, and creating a revocation process. He said he’d also like Airbnb to report where guests spend their money – hopefully not in Clayton. Faulkingham went to a national conference of city officials in March where it was discussed.
City Manager Marty Corcoran said planning and zoning will have to review and approve changes in zoning if vacation rentals are to be permitted, also that Airbnb hosts would be required to have a business license. He said other cities have created ordinances to regulate vacation rentals; others acknowledge they exist but ignore them.
Read the full report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Would much rather have a few BnB s scattered around the area than more fast food places. Most of them only let out one or two rooms, not a great traffic impact. Of course they have to be licensed, inspected and insured properly but they would be locally owned and a great asset. The central location of this area is a natural.
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