City officials aren’t wrong to think there should be some local guidelines governing short-term rentals.

We’ve all heard the horror stories of short-term rentals creating havoc for people who have owned their homes for decades when rentals go wrong with loud parties or tons of additional traffic at all hours of the day that didn’t previously exist in the neighborhood.

It’s important to find a way to address the concerns of neighbors while also finding a way to allow a growing segment of the tourism economy to flourish in both the city and the rest of Warren County.

And while we don’t necessarily agree with all the points made by Arthur Stewart at last week’s City Council meeting, he raises some points that we think council members should consider as they discuss changes to the city’s zoning ordinances at future meetings.

Requiring there be no change to the property’s outside appearance that indicates a change of use is probably too limiting for short-term rental owners. They may want, for instance, cameras to be able to monitor the property. If those cameras are visible, under the zoning change, it could be termed an outside appearance that shows a change compared to the rest of the neighborhood.

Limits on the ways short-term rental properties can be used is likewise quite restrictive.

For example, rather than simply say using a short-term rental for any type of event is not allowed, it might be better to allow some of the events with city approval and notification of neighbors. Not that most short-term rentals are good for events anyway given the fact that most houses don’t have layouts that encourage weddings or banquets.

That doesn’t mean all of the requirements are bad. There should be a local property representative available in case there is a problem. Insurance and smoke detector requirements make sense, as does a requirement for at least one off-street parking space.

There should be some limits on short-term rentals, and city officials wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t try to protect neighbors around short-term rentals. But Stewart is right when he says the city should try to be welcoming to short-term rentals too.