By JEROD MACDONALD-EVOY | AZ Mirror
An ordinance passed earlier this year by Paradise Valley to regulate “party houses” could jeopardize $1.6 million the town receives in state income tax payments after a Republican legislator complained that it violates state law.
Thanks to a proliferation of short-term rentals, often through companies like Airbnb and Vrbo, the town is grappling with how to regulate events and large social gatherings being hosted in residential areas.
“It is our number one issue in Paradise Valley,” Town Manager Jill Keimach told the town council on Jan. 27 as it prepared to vote on an ordinance regulating short-term rentals, or STRs.
AirDNA, a company that tracks vacation rentals and other rental property information, lists 407 STRs in Paradise Valley proper. Of those rentals, 32% are large homes — they have 5 or more bedrooms and the average guest size for a rental is 10.4 guests in a rental with 3 bedrooms.
The ordinance the council passed unanimously that day does a number of things in an attempt to rein in what town leaders see as bad actors in the STR space, enhance public safety and target “party houses.”
