Other TX Cities News & Ordinances

Multiple cities throughout the state have either dealt with the STR or are in the midst of working the issues. Please contact us for additional information and contacts on specific cities.

news and ordinances

Argyle

Argyle town leaders examine short-term rentals. (2023)

bedford

Bedford short-term rental owners must register with city. (2023)

BOERNE

Boerne debate: Is now the time to clamp down on short-term property rentals? That’s the dilemma facing the Boerne City Council as it wrestles with how best to regulate the budding industry in the fast-growing Hill Country city. (2023)

colony

The Colony City Council discusses short-term rental concerns. (2023)

Corpus Christi

Unfortunately Corpus Christi has succumbed to Silicon Valley giant Airbnb and City Council is now looking to allow 1 in 6 houses in residential areas to be Short-term rentals. What a disaster for residents. (2022)

Short term rentals in areas of Corpus Christi appropriately zoned for STRs will now be required to register with the city. Section 5.24.2 of Corpus Christi’s Unified Development Code already prohibits STRs in single family zoning districts. (2021)

Demand for vacation rentals in Corpus Christi is growing ... and so are the violations. Corpus Christi's short-term rental market is now 2,100 homes after more than 400 rental homes were added to listings in the last year, city officials said Tuesday….and there has been a citywide uptick in violations. (2021)

FLOWER MOUND

Sad news for the 40% who don’t live in an HOA, or whose HOAs don’t have stringent STR covenants. Flower Mound declines to pursue short-term rental guidelines. (2020)

Flower Mound still considering short-term rental guidelines. Currently the town doesn’t have an ordinance to address short-term rentals, though residents have voiced concern about the issues they say short-term rentals have brought to their neighborhoods, including strangers and noise. (2020)

Complaints from residents prompted Flower Mound staff to begin researching its options. Complaints include public intoxication, too many vehicles parked on the street, noise, general safety concerns about the security of the neighborhood and misuse of a fire pit during a burn ban. (2019)

FRISCO

The city of Frisco is considering whether to regulate short-term rentals to address a small number of problem properties and better track what could become a growing industry. (2021)

Houston area

Houston City Council to look at solutions for regulating short-term rentals amid resident complaints. (2024)

Houston mayor calls short-term rentals a 'serious problem' and vows to enforce regulations. Neighbors said sex parties, round-the-clock drunkenness and gunshots have turned their lives into "a living hell." (2024)

West Houston neighbors fed up with sex parties, drunkenness, gunfire at short-term rental properties. “It is crazy,” long-time Westhaven Estates resident Kathy Yang said. “Party all night long, all weekend long, for days.” (2024) Houston Mayor proposes crackdown on short-term rentals amidst safety concerns.

Some Houston residents question why city does not have short-term rental regulations. Residents and council members alike are raising concerns about residential homes and apartments used as short-term rentals, which are still unregulated in Houston. (2024)

Galleria condo owners alarmed by short-term rental issues: Drugs, public sex, and gunfire. (2024)

Party at a Short-Term Rental Near Houston Turns Deadly Overnight. (2024)

Police raid ‘skimmer manufacturing lab’ in Sunnyside Airbnb, charge suspects who crossed Canadian border. (2023)

Residents at Houston condominium outraged at Airbnb renters having sex on balcony in front of neighbors. (2023)

Houstonians Against Airbnb | Facebook

Houston considers regulating short-term rentals as tensions grow among neighbors. (2023)

Houston gets active to curb issues associated with STRs - see 3 articles. Should cities regulate Airbnbs_ Keep local control. (Editorial). In Houston, one neighborhood is pushing to upend short-term rentals. Houston HOAs are struggling to combat 'chronic party houses'. (2023)

Ex-NFL star’s short-term rental goals tabled. (2023)

Massive rental home 'rager' frustrates neighbors in Houston area neighborhood. Massive 2 day long New Year’s weekend Airbnb party with over 150 partygoers in attendance frustrates Houston neighbors. (2023)

'Chronic party houses' on Airbnb and Vrbo have become hot topics in Houston HOA disputes. (2022)

Why it’s so dangerous to use Airbnb. Houston bachelorette party ends badly when thieves steal everything, from toothbrushes to 2 cars. (2021)

Irving

Irving will require short-term rentals to register with city, pay annual fee. (2022)

League City

League City council to consider 1,100% rental fee hike on short-term rentals. (2023)

Little elm

Frisco ISD basketball player killed in Little Elm house party Airbnb shooting. (2023)

LUBBOCK

Lubbock taking steps to regulate short-term rental houses. The City of Lubbock hired professional consultants to recommend local regulations. These regulations may do with noise, occupancy limits, specific home locations, vehicle limits, trash requirements and more. (2019

Leander

City of Leander looks at regulations for short-term rentals. (2023)

MARFA

Brewster County cutting ties with company tapped to help enforce hotel occupancy taxes. Brewster County officials are cutting ties with a company they hired less than a year ago to help address a growing problem of short-term rental owners not paying lodging-related taxes. (2023)

Marfa, Texas, became a famed art haven. Now locals can’t afford it. (2023)

Legislators file bills on use of HOT taxes, short-term rental regulations. In February, the Marfa Chamber of Commerce board announced support for a letter penned by the Texas Neighborhood Coalition that sought to warn legislators to oppose such legislation upon filing. (2023)

Civic leaders will debate new regulations of Short Term Rentals (STRs) such as AirBnBs. “Short-term rentals (STRs) were originally meant as an alternative to traditional hotels, but in Marfa they have instead become a significant replacement of our community’s homes.” (2022)

Community first and visitor second’: Citizens voice hotel occupancy tax and short-term rental concerns – The Big Bend Sentinel. (2022)

Marfa officials had numerous reasons to consider more regulations on Airbnbs, from shrinking housing stock and unpaid hotel occupancy taxes to short-term rental owners who flaunted temporary restrictions at the start of the coronavirus crisis. In 2019, around 150 of the city’s rental units were Airbnbs — a 40% increase from 2018, or about 14% of Marfa’s housing stock. (2020)

MESQUITE

In Mesquite, short term rental regulations are a done deal. City leaders moved quickly to address homeowner concerns about the properties turning into party houses. But they don't prevent STRs from operating in single family residential neighborhoods. What a shame. (2022)

Weekend shooting prompts Mesquite mayor to call for tighter short-term rental regulations. (2020)

Teen girl shot during house party in Mesquite. Airbnb is finding it is impossible to prevent party houses and violence at short-term rentals. (2020)

NEW BRAUNFELS - STR Ordinance

Proposed changes to short-term rental ordinances would be city’s first update since 2011 - and would close loopholes. City Council approved the first reading of an update to ordinances governing short-term rentals, or STRs, and permits for them at a Feb. 24 meeting. The proposed regulations would be more consistent with those of other cities across Texas, according to Christopher Looney, New Braunfels Planning and Development Services director. (2020)

City of New Braunfels keeping a closer eye on vacation rental properties. One of the guidelines stated in the city’s STR ordinance is that short-term rental properties are prohibited in the city’s residential districts. (2018)

ODESSA

Local Airbnb regulations aren't being enforced by the city of Odessa. "If the zone is considered single family residence, then you cannot have an Airbnb located in that area," said Sammy Quiroz, an Odessa Building Official. (2019)

PEARLAND

Pearland City Council establishes short-term rental advisory committee. “Airbnb’s are for the vacation life,” Pearland resident Melissa Flores said during citizen comment. “People arrive at all times of the day and night. Loud music, door slamming at 3 a.m.. Lots of talking as people unload their belongings like it is 4 [p.m.]. Vacationers are not concerned that the neighbor needs to get up in a few hours to go to work.” (2021)

PORT ARANSAS

City officials agree, Port Aransas short-term rentals are a problem. (2021)

rockwall

Rockwall city leaders approve short-term rentals ordinance. (2024)

rowlett

Man found dead in Rowlett Airbnb pool, police look for person of interest. (2023)

San Angelo

City council discusses enforcement of short-term rental ordinances. Officials say, on average, there are 120 to 150 short operating each weekend and only 28 are officially listed. (2024)

City discusses amendments to short-term rental regulations. (2023)

Short-Term Rental properties across San Angelo have become a heavily discussed topic in the city, causing the City Council to consider amending the Short-Term Rental ordinance. (2023)

san marcos

San Marcos moves forward on short-term rental rule changes. Council gives initial approve to rules that would limit the number of short-term rentals allowed in some residential areas. (2024)

San Marcos moves to ease its rules on short-term rental (2024) Here’s the latest ordinance.

San Marcos is taking resolute action to protect neighborhoods, by among other things, requiring all STRs to be owner occupied, limiting the number and limiting the number of guests. This example underscores how even tourist-dependent cities have to safeguard residential neighborhoods Here is their original ordinance.

Waco

Did Chip and Joanna Gaines' 'Fixer Upper' break Waco? A city made famous by the popular HGTV show is now seeing skyrocketing property taxes, and the demand for short-term rentals are driving some Waco residents out of their homes. (2023)

Woodway (near Waco) bans short-term rentals in residential zoning. The Woodway City Council approved an ordinance that would make operating a short-term rental in a residentially zoned area a misdemeanor, allowing them only in commercial areas when the owner has secured a permit. (2023)

Waco takes action to stop proliferation of AirBnBs. The experience of the City of Waco is highly instructional. On October 1, 2019, that city adopted a case-by-case approach for determining whether or not to authorize particular homes to be utilized for short-term rentals. The results that Texas Neighborhood Coalition observed were perfectly predictable. Well-to-do neighborhoods often hired legal counsel and frequently successfully opposed the applications, while less well-off neighborhoods that could not afford to hire lawyers, suffered the brunt of the expansion of short-term rentals through this case-by-case approach.

In the wake of an outcry by citizens who saw their neighborhoods being depopulated of regular residents, and faced with the daunting consumption of city resources, in May 2021, the city of Waco reversed course and adopted rules allowing new ones in only some areas of the city, observing that because of the earlier failed approach, “ Some very old Waco neighborhoods have begun to disappear, with only a few residents on a street.”

The new rules in Waco themselves come with their own set of problems. They do not adequately protect residential neighborhoods from the spread of STRs, and they may indeed not pass muster under the recent Fifth Circuit ruling in the New Orleans case.(2021)

West University Place (near Houston)

Does not permit STRs in residential areas - see their ordinance.