...and now you have 100's of STR properties operating without permits, many of them non-owner occupied, with no enforcement mechanism and essentially no limit per census tract. Of course, this means no revenue to Metro Nashville combined with a large number of affordable properties taken out of what might otherwise be available housing stock ("why rent long term when short term is so much more profitable" -- say goodbye to workforce housing!).

The cap on the number of permits is intended to prevent residential zoned areas from becoming zones of de facto transient housing.

The caps are 1 permit per owner-occupant in residential zones, and 2 per owner in non-residential zones. The first one is pretty self-explanatory -- since you have to be the owner-occupant of a property to get the permit, you can by definition only have one. The non-owner-occupied permits that will be available outside residential zones are limited because we think it makes sense to allow more leeway for, say, the owner of a multi-unit building downtown, but we also still have concerns about taking rental units out of the housing market. Some cities have seen the phenomenon of "Airbnb hotels," basically apartment buildings where most or all of the units are turned into short-term rentals. We already have permits and regs for hotels and motels, if that's the business people want to operate.

As Bill Lyons said during the public meeting last week, we had a few guiding principles in drafting the ordinance:

-- Allow legal short-term rental operation in all zones (they are currently illegal in most areas, except as permitted hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfasts);
-- Protect the quality of life in residential neighborhoods (by limiting STRs to owner-occupied properties);
-- Avoid the loss of existing housing stock, which would worsen the shortage of affordable housing;
-- And create a level playing field in terms of taxes and fees for all lodging operators, whether hotel/motels or STRs.