Rockford Council says ‘too many angles’ when it comes to the short-term rental ordinance

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — After several years of residential complaints, Rockford City Council wants to develop an ordinance for short-term rentals in the city.

According to the city, there are over 200 short-term rentals, like Airbnb and VRBO, in the Rockford area. Up until recently, city government did not have anything on record concerning these rentals.

"Some individuals that own these VRBOs are good citizens, well-intentioned and good stewards of the community," Third Ward Alderman Chad Tuneberg said. "Some individuals that own these are not so much so, and we don't have anything on the books right now to address issues that arise."

Tuneberg said he and the rest of the council have heard complaints from neighboring residents of these rentals about loud noise, large gatherings, too many cars on the streets and even criminal activity. Now, Tuneberg said, the board is trying to create an ordinance that puts rules and regulations in place.

"We want to make sure it's put on in a legitimate way that will assist those who are running it the right way but also have something that we can refer to for instances where they're not running the right way," Tuneberg said.

Sandi Kohn is one of many short-term rental hosts in the area. She has been a host for over seven years and said rules may be necessary to keep the community safe, but she and her friends that are also hosts have been following these rules on their own since the beginning.

"I think it will flesh itself out and the bad actors will have to leave," Kohn said. "This might actually be something that'll do that, but I hope it doesn't hurt the people who've been doing a really good job. We've been doing our due diligence in downtown for a long time. We just hope that that's remembered by the people who are going to be following up on this ordinance."

Monday night's proposed ordinance included the following rules:

1. No advertising or hosting for commercial events, such as weddings, large gatherings, or assemblies.
2. Maximum occupancy of two people per bedroom or 10 total persons.
3. No on-street parking.
4. Responsible party must be available to respond to complaints.
5. No hourly booking.
6. New owners must submit an application.

Tuneberg said some of these rules are hard to finalize, as different circumstances call for different solutions.

"We ultimately will have something on the books, but we don't want to alienate the individual owners who are running it the way it should be, and the really the way it should be is not disrupting the neighborhood," Tuneberg said.

Because of this, Tuneberg and the rest of the aldermen decided to lay the item over on Monday. The council said it believes the rules need to be further discussed and developed before sending it out to the hosts.