Amendments added to proposed Pittsburgh legislation on short-term rental properties

Owners of short-term rental properties who live outside Allegheny County would be required to designate a local person to serve as an emergency contact under proposed amendments to Pittsburgh City Council legislation introduced Wednesday.

The original legislation — introduced in April after two teenagers were killed and several other people were injured at a shooting at an Airbnb rental property in Pittsburgh’s North Side — sought to require anyone operating a short-term rental property to get a city license to do so.

That legislation also called for the owners to provide their contact information and other details such as the maximum number of guests permitted in the unit. Short-term rental owners also would need to keep a list of guests who enter the property, including their contact information.

Councilman Bobby Wilson, one of several co-sponsors on that legislation, introduced several amendments to the measure Wednesday. He said the goal of the amendments is to make it easier for officials to determine where short-term rentals are, who owns them and what is permitted to happen at the units.

Among the proposed amendments, short-term rental owners living outside Allegheny County would be required to designate a “responsible local agent” who lives in the county and could be contacted by public safety officials if issues arise at the property.

Another change would require short-term rentals to display a sticker issued by the city’s Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections that is visible to people entering the unit. The sticker would be tied to an online database operated by PLI that would allow officials to easily find contact information for the owner or responsible local agent. The database also would include a full list of current licenses for short-term rentals, inspection information and maximum occupancy limits.

Wilson said the database would make it easier for public safety officials to get necessary information about a property quickly in case of an emergency. It also would be publicly available, according to the amendment.

“It provides transparency to who owns the property,” Wilson said.

Other proposed amendments would require Airbnbs and other short-term rentals to abide by homeowners’ association rules where applicable, and allow police and PLI to suspend a short-term rental license for a year if violations occur.

The measure eliminates a provision that would have required that guests do not stay in the unit for more than 15 consecutive days. Airbnb owners had urged council to nix that requirement during a public hearing on the measure last month.

The bill does not regulate where short-term rentals can be located or what type of building can house the units, Wilson said.

“We received so many requests or suggestions for amendments, so much information from the public,” said Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, who serves as the primary sponsor of the legislation.

Additional amendments could be introduced next week, council members said. They held the measure for additional discussion next Wednesday prior to a final vote, which could be held as soon as the following week.