Regulation of short-term rentals important issue
The Midway-Versailles-Woodford County Planning Commission, for the first time, is dealing with the regulation of short-term rentals (STRs). These alternatives to conventional hotels have been opening in Woodford County due in part to the explosion in bourbon and equine tourism. Until now, these businesses have been unregulated here. This means there is no oversight to ensure compliance with fire, building and other health standards. In response to a request from the City of Midway, new Planning Director Steve Hunter has been meeting with his staff and officials to analyze these types of guest lodging to develop a regulatory scheme for them. The proposed regulations are now before the commission in the form of text amendments to the pertinent ordinances. Sun reporter Bob Vlach has already written two articles providing overviews of the amendments with discussion from Hunter on the issue. For subscribers, these articles can be read on our website, www.woodfordsun.com. The Commission is expected to vote on this at either next week’s February meeting or at its March meeting. Bob’s reporting in the Sun has provided the information we need to decide how each of us views the regulation of STRs and beds and breakfasts (B&Bs). There are serious and quite real economic and quality of life issues impacted by this decision. How you think about the upsurge in this kind of hospitality lodging matters. As Versailles and Midway are “revitalizing” their downtowns and both cities have become bases for visitors to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and our internationally renowned horse breeding farms open up to more visitors, there is no surprise that B&Bs and STRs are being established all over the county. This is a good thing. These businesses can contribute to the county’s bottom line by generating additional tax revenues. These promote tourism which translates into healthier local businesses from restaurants to coffee shops to small retail shops. On the flip side, as we heard at the Jan. 3 Midway Council meeting, the possible impact of B&Bs and STRs on low and moderate income housing inventory or the character of an historic town neighborhood or rural district must be addressed. Given STRs are now wholly unregulated, what city and county services will be needed and at what cost to make sure these types of accommodations are safe for guests? How many can be operated in a particular area? Will traffic be increased? The regulation of these businesses will impact the budgets of our fire, police and code enforcement departments. The debate over proposed or new land uses in Woodford County has a long history and one in which ordinary citizens have never shied from engaging. In some ways, this is the inevitable result of a growing Versailles and Midway in a fundamentally rural landscape with a tradition of an agricultural economy. We are not Lexington, nor are we Frankfort – we have something uniquely special. The attraction of living in a county with excellent schools and public services and an educated workforce can be irresistible. And, our convenience to folks who commute to jobs in Lexington and Frankfort has always pushed residential development. So, how to treat B&Bs and STRs is just the newest thing we need to seriously consider. My first involvement in a land use controversy was in high school in the mid-1970s when I was drafted to help “fill up” the seats at a series of Planning Commission meetings involving a proposed re-zoning of land on U. S. 60 for commercial development. The lesson I learned, which has been reinforced by the writings of one of my former clients, Wendell Berry, is that land use issues are some of the very most important for a community to resolve – particularly ours where small towns and ruralism mark our very essence. This is a profound heritage for which we are but stewards. Land use, as a public concern, is a part of our obligation as a local citizen to engage. To this end, we hope that members of our community will continue to study and engage on how we are going to allow B&Bs and STRs to operate in our county. In many ways, from our viewpoint at the Woodford Sun, this is not so much what position you take, but that you take an informed position and share it with the Planning Commission. We have given you the resource in our reporting to help you. We are not suggesting that the presence and likely growth of B&Bs and STRs is controversial, nor are we taking an editorial position. Our obligation is to inform you, and then hope that the next commission meeting on Thursday, Feb. 9, will be packed to the gills as we, as a community through our commission, choose how best to integrate STRs and B&Bs as a vital part of our hospitality and tourism efforts.