The City of Warren’s proposed zoning ordinance currently out for public review contains “minimalistic” regulations for short-term rentals, like Airbnbs and VRBOs.

“The city is looking at it being very, very minimalistic in terms of what the requirements are,” Director of Codes and Planning Randy Rossey said. “What we’re asking is mostly for public safety.”

Those regulations outline six specific requirements.

First, a short-term rental “shall not have any outside appearance indicating a change of use from the surrounding residential uses.”

Further, “the property owner must designate a local property representative for the purpose of” responding to complaints. “The name, address, email address and telephone contact number of the property owner and the local property representative shall be kept on file at the city and posted at the property.”

The draft ordinance also limits the purpose for a short-term rental to prohibit “a purpose other than or not incidental to its use for overnight lodging.

“This restriction includes using the rental for a wedding, banquet, reception, bachelor or bachelorette party, concert, fundraiser, sponsored event, or any similar group activity.”

Additional requirements include owners providing the city with a certificate of insurance “documenting that the dwelling is insured as a short-term or vacation rental; smoke detectors located as required and one off-street parking space located on site.

The contact information provision is “in case there is an emergency,” Rossey said.

Citing the changing occupation of short-term rentals, he said there is a need for emergency officials to be able to determine if a property is occupied and by how many people “so we can respond appropriately” in the event of an incident.

Rossey said that short-term rentals are permitted in the draft in every district except the industrial and R1, which focuses primarily on single-family residences. However, he said any located in an R1 district now would be grandfathered in.

Any further short-term rental proposals in an R1 district, he added, would require a special exception from the city’s Zoning Hearing Board.

“We don’t want the whole R1 to turn into nothing but short-term rentals,” Rossey said. “We want to provide areas for single-family development. We really don’t have any major issues in the city with short-term rentals. We don’t get a lot of complaints. For us, it’s just another thing that zoning ordinances have to adjust to. Zoning ordinances have to reflect the changes of land usage.”