The vast majority of a Warren City Council work session held Monday night focused on the ongoing discussion regarding whether the city’s zoning ordinance should include regulations for short-term rentals like Airbnbs and VRBOs.

A re-designed zoning ordinance was a piece of the city’s comprehensive planning process.

And that zoning ordinance appears on the cusp of adoption.

“We are planning on taking action at the April meeting pending discussion that we have here tonight,” Mayor David Wortman said. “There is nothing that is driving that. We don’t have any time constraints.”

There is a requirement that the ordinance be approved within 90 days of a public hearing but that gives council until June.

Councilman Phil Gilbert was first to raise the short-term rental issue, asking about an off-street parking requirement included in the draft ordinance.

Brandi Rosselli, Mackin Engineering’s community planning manager and the consultant that drafted the ordinance, said the intent is to excessive street parking but Gilbert said that he and other property owners in the city would be excluded from operating an Airbnb just by this provision.

“This is up to the city,” Rosselli stressed. “I’m not here to advocate one way or the other. It is a matter of not just short-term rentals but all the various regulations you put in the ordinance…. Is it in the best interest of the city overall and the health and safety of all the residents of the city?”

Director of Codes and Planning Randy Rossey said the city’s zoning committee felt that a registry with contact information was important to be included, especially for emergency situations.

An additional regulation also limits what those utilizing short-term rentals could use them for.

Councilwoman Danielle Flasher asked if the owner would have to put those restrictions in the listing.

“That’s normally the way it’s done,” Rosselli said. “It’s up to the owner of the property to convey that to who they’re renting to.”

Councilman Jared Villella said the zoning committee spent at least half of its meetings talking about short-term rentals and trying to find a “balance of how restrictive and nonrestrictive” the regulations should be.

Two city residents offered comments to council on Monday – Lacey Schuler and Arthur Stewart.

Schuler was critical of the city’s decision to consider “unnecessary barriers” before those seeking to create business opportunities.

“Our Airbnb has housed people from all over the US,” she told council, and from “as far away as China.

“This should excite you,” she added. “Instead you’re talking about adding red tape.”

She said the registry provision seems “unnecessary” as the city would have their information based on the fact that they own their home.

Rosselli said the contact information provision is included in part because short-term rentals can happen outside of platforms like Airbnb and VRBO.

“We do not have any major issues with short-term rentals in the city,” Rossey said. “If there is an issue where we need to contact the owner, we have the ability.”

Arthur Stewart argued that the regulations as proposed “unfairly target short-term rentals.”

“You have nothing in your ordinance that deals with an LLC that rents out a house for 31 days or longer,” he said, calling it an “enormous disparity between this tiny little thing, short-term rentals, versus this much more populous absentee homeowner. You’re completely unconcerned about that in your ordinance.

“We’re being micro-focused on something that’s not a problem,” he added. “I believe you have a problem that is more prevalent (and) involves (many) more absentee owners. You simply choose to not deal with that.”

Rosselli said that longer-term rental issues are “not something that is regulated to that level in a zoning ordinance…. Your absentee landlord issue is a large issue. (It is) probably not going to be solved through zoning.”

Rossey pointed out that communities including Bradford and Titusville have rental registries where a license is required to rent a property. Holtz said an ordinance to that effect was before council but “it didn’t go through.”

Stewart added that there is no requirement for named individuals and telephone numbers required under boarding homes or group homes.

He asked why the city is “treating similarly-situated properties differently.”

The short-term rental discussion dominated Monday’s session. Other issues raised briefly included a proposed mixed commercial and residential district along Market St., the square footage requirement for new homes and the possibility of tiny homes in the city.

Wortman asked council members to bring anything changes they want to make to the April meeting.