Blooming buds, thin layers of green pollen and daylight savings time can mean only one thing. Spring is here and, for many Greene County residents, so are hefty profits from renting out their homes during The Masters Golf Tournament.
Masters Week this year is Monday, April 3 through Sunday, April 9.
For homeowners in unincorporated Greene County, the two weeks around The Masters is the only time, each year, when short-term rentals of 30 days or less are allowed anywhere without obtaining a short-term rental business license.
The Greene County Commission, on a 3-2 vote, approved a strict ordinance in 2018 that severely limits the number of homes that can be rented short term.
Greene County Manager Byron Lombard told the Lake Oconee News it started with persistent complaints from one homeowner about the rental house next door. He claimed there were instances of busloads of partiers showing up, followed by up to five days of loud music and “drunk people throwing beer bottles all over the place.”
According to Lombard, short-term rentals represent a business that should be confined to areas zoned for business use.
In Putnam County, the issue of short-term rentals at any time has become more heated recently. The county commission is trying to determine how to address an increasing number of complaints from local residents.
“Most property owners in Greene County, prior to the enactment of this ordinance, when they bought into their neighborhood it was a single-family neighborhood,” said Greene County Commissioner Ernie Filice, whose district includes most of the residential communities at Lake Oconee.
He recognizes there are two sides to the equation.
“There are property rights for the people that own it and there are rights for the people who are inconvenienced,” Filice said.
He pushed for a strong ordinance in 2018. This week he had very simple advice for Putnam County.
“Do it,” Filice said. “I like our ordinance, it’s working. People come here to get away from hassles. So, we try to do our best to maintain the quality of life for everybody.”
Tough requirements
Outside of the special April 1-15 window for Masters Week, short-term rentals in unincorporated Greene County are restricted to what is called Overlay Districts. These are specific areas, approved by the county, in residential communities.
For developers, it is easy to designate areas for short-term rentals, but for individual homeowners, it’s next to impossible. Five years after the ordinance was approved, there are only three Short-Term Rental Overlay Districts (STRO), all within Reynolds Lake Oconee. Reynolds designated small areas where they built multi-family units or cottages, some of which are used for potential buyers.
Active developers that still own property in their developments, as well as developers building or preparing to build communities in Greene County, must apply to the county for STRO Districts. Approval is all but guaranteed.
Meanwhile, no individual homeowner has been able to successfully set up an STRO around their home. For individuals, the ordinance requires written approval of 60 percent of all property owners in the community, whether there is a house on the lot or not. Lombard says a few have tried, but all eventually gave up.
All Short-Term Rental Overlay Districts have five-year terms, which means Reynolds’ three permits will soon come up for renewal. That will require, among other things, a public hearing.
Other STRO requirements
All short-term rentals in unincorporated Greene County must adhere to the ordinance’s limits on the number of occupants, permitted parking, noise restrictions and other safety requirements. The property owner or their local contact person must live in Greene County or within 60 miles of the rental property. They must be able to be at the property within one hour after a call from the Sheriff or Code Enforcement officer about a violation or complaint.
Rentals of properties for more than 30 days are not required to be in Overlay Districts. However, they still must have a business license, pay sales and hotel/motel taxes and adhere to noise and safety regulations. The ordinance does not apply to the five incorporated cities within the county.
Penalties
Lombard said most tips about violators come from irate neighbors. But websites like VRBO and Airbnb are checked many times each year for advertising by people who are not in compliance.
Some say they don’t know about the restrictions. Others change their advertising to require rentals for 31 days or more. First-time violators typically get a warning. Penalties increase from there up to as much as $1,000 for each day the unit is marketed or rented while out of compliance.
Winners and losers
According to county records, there are currently 103 licensed short-term rentals available in Greene County. Of those, 52 were grandfathered into the law because they had business licenses and were paying sales and hotel/motel taxes before the ordinance was approved.
Dr. Jeffrey Zweig’s house in The Landing was grandfathered into the new ordinance but he thinks limiting short-term rentals to Overlay Zones is unfair.
“I feel this is a discriminatory process by big hospitality corporations to shut down private entrepreneurs and people who might need extra money by renting their homes,” Zweig told the Lake Oconee News, “I think that people are getting away from hotel rooms and want their privacy. They don’t want to be in a hallway with people next door who are loud and sharing bedspreads that have been used for years.”
Still, Zweig said he understands how neighbors can be concerned.
“I do think that most of us that are doing short-term rentals are cautious and careful and selective,” he said. “We don’t want our neighbors to be upset with us.”
County Manager Lombard said he thinks a small group of people should not be allowed to change the character of a neighborhood.
“If I could make the call for Putnam or any other community, it would simply be to let the people in a subdivision speak to whether or not they support this type of business activity in their residential area. Set a threshold that must be met. I would want it to be 75 percent. Or let any new development set it up from day one so that anyone who buys in there knows from day one.”