Forest Hills residents work to legalize Airbnb

Sunlight was peering through the windows of Terry Jo Bichell’s one-bedroom cottage guesthouse on a chilly Thursday morning while horses grazed under frost-covered trees that dotted the hillside of her 12-acre property.

Many guests have woken up to this view at Bichell’s Forest Hills property using the home rental website Airbnb, but residents and Airbnb hosts like Bichell said there is confusion over the city’s ordinance regarding short-term rentals.

The issue came up during a recent Forest Hills city commission meeting when commissioners were in the process of reviewing the city’s zoning code. Currently, the city’s zoning code prohibits short-term residential rentals such as Airbnb.

“The intention wasn’t to step on people’s toes, but at this time, Airbnb is not allowed in Forest Hills and it has never been allowed,” said City Manager Amanda Deaton-Moyer. “It’s gone on under the radar, unregulated and unenforced.”

Forest Hills is now proposing to update the ordinance to clarify the language regarding short-term rentals.

Bichell has formed a citizen-led committee to craft a separate ordinance that would make Airbnb legal in Forest Hills.

The Forest Hills resident has been renting out her cottage to guests via Airbnb since March and said she is worried about having to cancel future reservations because of the ordinance.

Read more http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2016/01/28/forest-hills-residents-work-legalize-airbnb/79456226/

One-Third of Airbnb Users Run ‘Full-time’ Rental Businesses, Study Says

The viability of the so-called “sharing economy” including businesses like Airbnb, Lyft and Uber has been hotly debated.

One central area of contention relates to whether the sharing economy is bringing more wage-earning opportunities to more people, or simply displacing traditionally secure jobs and creating a large populace of part-time, low-paid workers.

This debate continues to play out in communities across the world where the services operate, causing commentators to weigh in with competing claims that vary in tone from alarmism to boosterism.

And now, the research community has joined the fray with deeper analysis of Airbnb operations and the operations of other similar companies.

Read more @ http://smallbiztrends.com/2016/01/one-third-airbnb-users-now-operate-full-time-rental-businesses-study-says.html?tr=sm