Letter: Short-term rental bans are shortsighted

Recently, several cities across South Dakota have adopted, or have considered adopting, a policy on short-term rentals that in many cases, amounts to a ban. You are likely familiar with short-term rentals through apps like VRBO and Airbnb. 

On a broader scale, many attempts to regulate these rentals are well intentioned, and something I am in favor of myself. These would include (but are not limited to), providing for a registration process with the city and being subject to regular inspections, like hotels are.  

However, the arguments that have led many cities, specifically Fort Pierre, towards adopting their policies misses the mark. In pushing their rules, opponents of short-term rentals have argued that there were several examples of short-term rentals being abused. When push comes to shove, opponents seem to only be able to produce one or two personal anecdote examples of this, essentially all of which had been handled appropriately. Imagine if we treated other businesses, or long-term rentals, this way. If you had a tenant who did something illegal in your apartment complex, local government banned long-term rentals. If someone got arrested at a bar, the government closed all bars. If you think this sounds impractical, that is because it is.   

The other argument made explicitly by Fort Pierre city officials when considering their rules, is that a ban on short-term rentals would push owners to rent their properties to long-term tenants because there is a lack of those available in town. The free market has a way of regulating this itself, it would not be economically practical to open a vacation rental in every other house on a street basically anywhere in the United States. It is wrong to use the heavy hand of government to force people to completely alter how they do business, often at a financial loss.  

The policies being pursued here opens other at home businesses up to severe regulation. Several people in the community run businesses out of their home; including but not limited to daycares, tailors and law firms. Short-term rentals often house seasonal workers, government employees, and healthcare workers who rotate in and out of a community. These types of workers are vital to a community, and we should foster them, not push them out.   

South Dakota continues to be a state that advertises itself as wanting to encourage and foster entrepreneurship, specifically for small businesses. If the communities in the state intend to hold true to this ethos, they should not seek to drastically restrict short-term rentals. 

Katie Goss,
Stanley County