Dear Editor,
I read a social media post that said Airbnb had destroyed Lake Sinclair. I completely disagree.
Airbnb, along with several other companies and individuals, helped people have a place to stay while they looked to buy a house.
They helped people have a place to stay while they built a house. They helped families have a place to stay while they celebrated the life of a loved one. They helped people have a place to stay while the country lived in fear. They helped nurses have a place to stay while they traveled, helping people like us whose hospitals were short-staffed.
A few bad renters do not destroy our lake.
I do not have an STR (short-term rental property). I do, however, have several on my street and long-term rentals too. The long-term renters destroy properties, abandon pets, do not empty their garbage, and have broken-down vehicles, and all this happens in a multi-use neighborhood with million-dollar homes.
Landlords with long-term renters do not police their tenants as well as they could and it’s much harder on the neighbors. As I wrote on a social media post, I would rather have a rowdy, short-term renter to deal with, than be stuck with one next door for a whole year or more.
If you stop STRs, then what stops the owners from going underground? What stops an owner from just having all his “friends” spend every weekend at his house and not signing up and paying taxes? Facebook and other apps have allowed us to make over 5,000 “friends.”
If short-term rentals get removed, owners can just call their guests friends, just like their neighbors do when they host family reunions or dinner parties. Participation is based on whether you have enough space for 35 people, like in my neighborhood, for weddings, bachelor and bachelorette parties, or holiday celebrations that last for a week before, during, and after the holiday seasons.
There will always be someone complaining about noise, too many children, too many adults, too much grilling out, too many fireworks, too many pets, a ball rolling into their yard, children playing flashlight tag instead of being inside on their phones or computers, or too many boats on the lake.
Requirements, ordinances, taxes, licenses – whatever is needed – are far better than just forcing the problem underground.
If a subdivision votes and does not want short-term rentals, let the subdivision make the decision to have covenants and let them police those who violate their covenants. Property owners, who do not live under covenants preventing them from having a short-term rental, should be left alone to make their own decisions about their own property.
The next complaint concerns where the money is going. Why in the world should we fund tourism? Well, because we cannot support our local businesses on our own. Look at the city of Eatonton. Just a few short years ago, it was almost a ghost town.
Look at it now! Look at the long reach of unincorporated Eatonton.
We now have several restaurants for a variety of palates. We have art and music, with festivals that are visited by people from all over the country. Small business craftsmen and women, who lost jobs during the pandemic, can now reach people, nationwide, because of tourism. These are all supported by funds that come from short-term rentals. Many of these people are now homeowners.
I do not want Putnam County policing our homes and properties.
If a home holds the proper documentation to be an STR, then it should stop there and become the responsibility of the host. If a subdivision votes for a homeowners’ association and covenants are developed, let them handle it. Not all STR environments have neighbors that are unhappy.
Sincerely, George Craig, owner of three non-STR properties in Putnam County