Do you have a neighbor who makes his or her property available on AirBnB or some other platform for a few days at a time? If so, that person now has a number of new regulatory responsibilities to the local government.

Unincorporated Henry County now has an ordinance governing short-term residential rentals. The Board of Commissioners voted at its October 4 regular meeting to approve an ordinance regulating this activity, which was not done previously.

The ordinance was the result of several months of meetings with county and state officials as well as a portion of the public. It is similar to what had previously been adopted in Stockbridge and Atlanta.

Under the new guidelines, a short-term rental was defined as the rental of a residence for no more than 30 days. It does not apply to bed and breakfasts, hotels, motels or boarding houses.

All owners of such properties now must file for an occupational tax certificate or business license and pay the required hotel occupancy taxes. The owner or a representative must be available to tenants around the clock.

There are limits on parking, and a property cannot be rented as a party venue. The latter restriction was specifically made due to complaints from homeowners in the county that neighboring homes had been rented solely for that purpose.

The ordinance passed by a 4-2 vote, with Bruce Holmes and Johnny Wilson voting in opposition.

Holmes questioned the constitutionality of the bill and also cited confusion at the need to regulate nuisance and noise violations by residential duration. “I don’t understand how you’re going to punish someone that rents their home versus someone that owns their home differently,” he said.

Wilson seemed to agree with the consensus that certain behavior needed to be more effectively regulated, but he disputed whether the legislation before them was the best means to address it.

“When you look at the issues that the residents were complaining about … I don’t think taxation and licensing is going to help,” he said. “Whether it’s short term, long term, or ownership, we need to put some more emphasis on how we’re going to prosecute the people that violate the ordinance [nuisance and noise] that we have in place..”

The newly passed ordinance goes into effect immediately.