By Rebecca Gaunt

Kennesaw will begin issuing licenses for short-term rentals, such as Airbnb accommodations in people’s primary residences, this fall.

The city will review the zoning and licensing framework of the ordinance next April, once there is demand and enforcement data, according to Mariyah Nall, Kennesaw’s business license manager.

“Due to the growth of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, we did see that we needed to begin local oversight,” she said.

The ordinance applies to rentals of less than 30 days, and will be limited to single-family residentially-zoned areas. It establishes a 250-foot buffer between rental properties, with a cap of 150 licenses, and a limit of two licenses per property owner. The application fee is $250.

Any currently operating short-term rentals will have 90 days to provide their tax records. They will be exempt from buffer and license requirements, as long as the property is owned and maintained properly by the current homeowner. The city said there are already 70 in operation.

Code enforcement will be in charge of compliance issues, such as noise complaints.

The city will begin accepting applications on October 1.

Councilman Anthony Gutierrez said the requirements were too restrictive and wanted to open it up to all property types.

“Since we already have the 150 cap, we already have the 250 buffer, I believe that’s enough to reel back the potential wave of applications or potential openings of Airbnbs,” he said.

The other council members present were satisfied to give it six months before reconsidering the policy as written.

The fee will be added to the city’s master fee schedule when it’s updated in September.

During last week’s work session, Councilman Antonio Jones requested to remove license caps, buffers, and residential zoning restrictions from the proposed ordinance. Jones was not present at this week’s voting session.

“I don’t see why townhome communities should be prohibited from having them there,” he said.

Zoning manager Darryl Simmons strongly opposed the idea of opening up the ordinance and reactively reigning it in as problems arise.

“I would be derelict in my duty to that,” Simmons responded.

The buffer was reduced from 500 feet to 250 between the work session to the voting session.

City manager Jeff Drobney promised to put the ordinance on the agenda for review after its six-month trial.

“I don’t think it’s going to be the wild west. I really don’t. But give us some time to see what we’ve got,” he said.