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All short-term vacation rentals in unincorporated parts of Hamilton County must now receive annual inspections to obtain a certificate to operate.

After enacting a six-month pause on new permits as they refined their guidelines, county commissioners officially approved an update to Hamilton County's short-term vacation rental rules in a 8-3 vote Wednesday.

Commissioners Steve Highlander, R-Ooltewah, and Ken Smith, R-Hixson, voted against the measure. Commissioner Warren Mackey, D-Lake Vista, opted to pass, meaning his vote will count as a no.

Commissioner Joe Graham, R-Lookout Valley, who worked alongside Commissioner Gene-o Shipley, R-Soddy-Daisy, to craft the new guidelines, said rentals in Hamilton County have been largely unregulated up to now and were not previously receiving inspections as part of the approval process.

"We're hoping to put enough rules and regulations in place that it addresses, hopefully, all of the neighbors' concerns parking, dogs, loud music, fireworks, all those different things," Graham said during the meeting Wednesday.

Commissioners also denied an amendment suggested by Highlander that would have created a process for neighbors to object to short-term vacation rentals cropping up in their community.

"Homes are the largest investment that most people ever make in their lives," Highlander told his colleagues. "I think they should have some say-so."

Under Highlander's proposal, property owners seeking a certificate from Hamilton County would have been required to place a sign outside their yard for 30 days notifying neighbors of their intent to turn the residence into a vacation rental.

The amendment failed in a 7-4 vote with commissioners Highlander, Shipley, Smith and Chairman Chip Baker, R-Signal Mountain, voting in favor of it.

(READ MORE: Property owners form group to oppose Chattanooga's proposed vacation rental rules)

"I will always support more transparency to my constituents in knowing what's going on around in their neighborhood, especially on issues that are very concerning to many that I have received phone calls from," Smith told his colleagues, explaining his support for the amendment.

New zoning rules the commission approved Wednesday will allow vacation rentals in all zones except manufacturing districts. Under prior guidelines, the county banned rentals in its low-density residential district. Smith, who voted against the update, said he opposes allowing vacation rentals in the low-density zones, which he said has been consistently shared by his constituents.

"I've not had a single constituent in my district calling me asking me to please allow short-term vacation rentals in their neighborhood," he said, "but I have had countless contacting me asking me not to allow them."

Under the new rules, Hamilton County will require property owners in unincorporated areas to pay an annual fee of $750 to receive a certificate for a short-term vacation rental, which includes $250 for an inspection.

The units will require signoff from the county's building inspection department, the fire marshal, and if the residence has a septic system, the groundwater department.

There will also be a limit on the number of people allowed to stay at the property, which will be calculated based on the number of bedrooms, and there must be enough spaces at the residence to ensure visitors won't take up on-street parking in the surrounding neighborhood.

In order to crack down on unpermitted units, the county plans to hire a company called Granicus that will scour the internet to find vacation rentals operating illegally. Those services will cost about $8,000 to $9,000 a year. The city of Chattanooga is already using the same software to identify unpermitted rentals.

Hamilton County has approximately 30 permitted short-term vacation rentals operating in unincorporated areas, but officials estimate there are at least another 75 operating illegally.

(READ MORE: New vacation rental rules in the works after failure at Chattanooga City Council)

County resident Colleen Kirk stood up during public comment Wednesday to raise several issues with the new regulations and the process by which they were approved, saying she would rather see vacation rentals restricted from operating in certain residential zones.

"The new rules remove any ability ... for the community and neighborhood to have a say of what's coming into their neighborhood," Kirk said in an interview, adding that she has safety concerns about the properties.

The rules approved Wednesday resulted from a months-long planning process that incorporated feedback from multiple residents and owners, Graham has said, adding that they set a foundation for the county going forward and can be adjusted as needed.

"The main goal that we tried to do here is get something started and get something started that hopefully we can build upon," he said during the meeting. "Did we hit it exactly right straight out of the gate? I doubt it, but we tried. We tried really hard."

Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.

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Hamilton County bolsters regulations for short-term vacation rentals ... - Chattanooga Times Free Press