The Oklahoma City Council voted overwhelmingly for an emergency moratorium on new applications for short-term home-sharing, like Airbnbs, last week.
Only Ward 4 Council Member Todd Stone voted against the measure.
Ward 2 Council Member James Cooper supported the moratorium. He said residents in his ward complain home-sharing leads to loud parties and more limited housing stock in their neighborhoods.
Cooper said the main issue is “people largely from out of the city and out of the state gobbling up like Pac-Man these properties and turning them into Airbnbs.”
The moratorium will be in effect for 180 days while the city considers a new ordinance that would limit the number of short-term rentals per city block.
Until now, homeowners found to be renting out their property without permission from the city could ask forgiveness from the Board of Adjustment and still apply for a short-term rental permit. This ban on new applications also puts a stop to that practice for at least the next six months.
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