Dallas homeowners urge city council to take action against short-term rentals
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Dallas City Council is on the verge of making a decision that will be sure to leave some homeowners disappointed.
After years of discussion, debate, disagreement, data-gathering and delay, council members are expected to vote next week on a zoning plan to address short-term rentals.
"It's so easy to think, 'What's the problem if you're not next door?'" explained Sonya Hebert, who lives with her family in North Dallas, near Midway Road.
Hebert is one of many Dallas residents who say they've had enough of the nightmare party houses. There's an Airbnb stay on her street, just two doors down.
"People were jumping on top of cars, dancing on cars, smoking marijuana in the street," Hebert shared. She also said party guests were urinating and vomiting on neighbors' lawns. "It felt like Bourbon Street on Mardis Gras."
Over the weekend, Hebert captured video of what she called an "out of control" party at the short-term rental that put her neighborhood at risk.
"You can see three bullet holes right there," she said, pointing to markings near the rental home's front door. "I was concerned that one of my neighbors had been shot...I was at that window. I could have been easily shot."
Another neighbor's video doorbell captured the rapid fire of multiple gunshot rounds that sent party guests scrambling just after 1 a.m. Sunday.
"I am livid," Hebert said. "My children do not need to be traumatized by gunfire 40 steps from their front yard, where they play every day."
The weekend party adds to the calls from critics urging city council to zone short-term rentals out of residential neighborhoods.
Still, others who operate short-term rentals in Dallas argued against an overreach that they say would punish the responsible operators along with the bad.
"The facts bear out that 80% have zero calls to 311 or 911," said Lisa Seevers. "This is not a crisis of epic proportion. Root out the few bad actors. Zoning STRs (short-term rentals) out will not create better neighbors or neighborhoods."
Others appealed to the council, saying income earned from renting spare rooms or garage apartments provides critical income to combat high housing costs and rising property taxes in the city.
"For those playing by the books, I feel terrible for them," Hebert said. "But as a community, we have to decide what's most important: the safety of the general public or the financial interests of a few."
