Commission moves to control short-term home rentals
By Mike Steely
Senior Writer
steelym@knoxfocus.com
When the Knox County Commission met last week it heard from citizens urging the county to adopt rules and regulations dealing with short-term housing rentals. Commissioner Carson Dailey asked the body to request Knoxville-Knox County Planning to look at amending the zoning ordinance to regulate Airbnb-type rentals for the first time.
The city of Knoxville has such regulations but, as mentioned by citizens who spoke to the commission work session, Knox County does not.
Julie Clark of Bella Vista Lane in South Knoxville pleaded with the commission to look at regulations, citing a large and unruly party that took place in her neighborhood until 3 a.m. Hancen Sale of East Tennessee Realtors Association said he supports the idea as long as it doesn’t infringe on property owner rights.
Dailey said the county has a boarding house ordinance but no short-term rental policy. He said the planning commission should look at requirements such as requiring a business license, applying hotel-motel taxes, capping the number of people allowed in a rental home and possibly requiring a use-on-review approval. His motion to send the request to the planners passed unanimously.
IN OTHER ACTION the commission voted to ask the local state legislature members to advocate for mental health services in Knox County. A resolution by Commissioners Kyle Ward and Rhonda Lee asked the legislature and governor to move the state’s $20 million in funding from the proposed pedestrian bridge linking South Knoxville to the University of Tennessee campus and use it to build a long-term drug and mental health hospital instead. That resolution died for the lack of a second and paved the way for the more general resolution sponsored by Commissioners Richie Beeler, Courtney Durrett and Ward that asks the state delegation to advocate for expanding mental health care in Knox County.
Beeler said the action will “send a unified message” to the governor and legislators. Commissioner Jay said the resolution should have been more specific and Chairwoman Durrett called the action a “joint effort to get the door open.”
“We’re tired of just talking,” she said.
A second and final reading of changing the Knox County Codes regarding the definition of swimming pools goes on to today’s commission meeting with no recommendations. The new definition states a pool is: Any structure intended for swimming or recreational bathing that has the capacity to contain water over twenty-four (24) inches deep. This includes in-ground, aboveground and on-ground pools, hot tubs and spas.
A public hearing on the change in the swimming pool definition is planned for 4:30 today.
A little over $9.7 million in funding was moved from the 2023 budget to the 2024 budget to fund specific county programs.
The commission heard a report from Director Colin Ickes of the Knox County Emergency Management Agency about the storms the previous week and also discussed the September 1 reorganization meeting and what each member might choose as a committee appointment.
South Knox Commissioner Carson Dailey’s resolution to have the planning commission look at regulating short-term home rentals passed unanimously last week following complaints of unruly parties and damage to neighborhoods.
