HUNTSVILLE, Ala — The City of Huntsville is taking action and addressing airbnbs and other short-term rentals operating illegally within city limits. Anyone wishing to rent a property on short-term rental websites such as Airbnb and Homeaway must receive a permit from the city of Huntsville prior to listing. But in the city of Madison, the rules are currently a little different.
"Terms for everybody within the city of Madison, short-term rentals, Airbnb, these things of that nature are not permissible in the city yet. Our planning department, as well as our council knows that that's a growing issue in the city." City of Madison Communications & External Affairs Officer Samantha Magnuson says they're looking to eventually create ordinances around that type of business. However, currently, "when people come into the city asking or looking for a business license to have a property of that nature, they will be denied. "
Madison County resident Leslie Stout currently rents out the "mother-in-law" suite in her primary residence. She says that when guests arrive, they have a special parking spot just for them with gates and a custom code for each guest. "Guests can come and go freely, and they also have access to the entire backyard space and pool. It's in the walkout basement. Guests have their own little private spot to park. They can come on to the property. They have their own door, their own entrance into the space. It's completely separate from our main living part of the home."
So is this actually legal?
Stout says yes. "So our property is actually not within city limits. We're not inside of Huntsville or Madison, we're just county, which is really great for us. We do have our own business license. We have, you know, attorneys, accountants, all that kind of stuff to make sure we're operating totally legally. "
On the other hand, in the city of Huntsville this is what you need to know:
Essentially, short-term rentals can be located anywhere a hotel or motel can locate, per the city's Zoning Ordinances. This pretty much excludes traditional residential neighborhoods where no commercial activity exists - that's it in a nutshell.
If you look at the city's zoning map, the only residential zone that allows hotels is R2B, however, hotels and short-term rentals are allowed in most commercial zones.