The White County Board of Commissioners has approved some changes to the county’s short-term rental regulations. The new regulations limit the total number of short-term rentals to 650 and restrict new rental operations from certain areas.
The changes take effect on January 31, 2024. The county says it has issued 501 host licenses for short-term rentals, representing 546 units.
The county also approved an amendment to the land use regulation that would direct the planning commission staff to approve any new short-term rental applications in accordance with the county code. This change would also remove the public hearing process that has been used in the past.
Commissioner Craig Bryant voted no to giving short-term rental (STR) approval to administrative staff and doing away with public hearings.
“I think it should stay in the hands of the commissioners for approval,” said Commissioner Craig Bryant. He said neighbors want to be kept informed about rentals in their neighborhoods, and without a public hearing, “there will be no say. They will just find out. That’s just my personal opinion I would just like to know where they are going to be.”
Commissioners Travis Turner and Shanda Murphy discussed the issue and said that they would address any issues that arise.
“If there are any challenges, any issues, those matters will be brought to the board of commissioners and, like I said earlier, if we find some things that are not working the way we intended, we’ll look at correcting those,” Turner said.
Short-term rentals are a type of short-term property rental arrangement that can be booked for a few days or weeks.
