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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas officials may clarify rules for short-term housing rentals that have stalled one condo owner's application for more than six months.
Councilmembers will consider the code amendment next week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/2alelAi).
A $500 annual license is among the requirements to rent out properties for less than 31 days at a time.
Julie Davies had a short-term rental license for her downtown condo when the city told her to cease and desist.
The city sent her an email in February the day before Davies was due to close on the condo. The email said staffers needed to review the impact of permitting short-term rentals in areas that the code did not cover.
"I still have the license, but it's being held and I can't use it," Davies said Saturday.
The permit process took days for her Florida property compared to the months she's been waiting in Las Vegas, Davies said.
"It's an emerging industry," Davies said. "We need to talk to each other, make reasonable regulations and enforce them. And make it easy to be licensed. Not months."
She said difficulties could encourage people to break rules.
"We'd rather do it right or we're not going to do it here at all," Davies said.
Meanwhile, Davies is paying to store the furniture for her condo while the process unfolds.
"I'm losing money every month," Davies said. "It's longer than they said it would be. It's moving through the process at snail's pace."
Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian said she's going to pursue a special-use permit requirement to bring properties before the council for approval. She said that is likely to generate complaints.
"I've gotten complaints where two little girls looked out their second-story window and saw a couple having sex by the pool at the rental," Tarkanian said. "And I'm not a fuddy-duddy, necessarily. But you have to respect the residents that make up the core of our community. You can't walk all over them."
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Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com
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