The New Orleans City Council is expected to pause case-by-case exceptions to the city’s short-term rental rules that went into effect last year.
“The current special exception process has created unforeseen challenges for all entities involved in the process,” council members said in two motions introduced this week.
The city passed a measure to limit short-term rentals to one per square block in residential neighborhoods in March 2023. Council members also passed a measure that lets two more property owners apply for an exception to the cap for any given square block.
A lottery system decides which homeowners are awarded a license when more than one applies for a given block. Those who lose out can apply for an exception. They must pay a fee, submit their application to the City Planning Commission (CPC) and inform neighbors of their plans.
The CPC reviews applications and makes recommendations to the City Council.
Since the exception program took effect last year, the CPC has received 327 applications, 126 of which they sent to the council to review. Of those applicants, only 41 were recommended for approval, a 33% approval rate, according to the commission.
So far, the council has reviewed 45 applications. They’ve approved 44 applicants and only denied one.
The council is set to vote on two motions later this month that could put an end to the program.
One motion recommends that the city suspend the program while the commission considers removing the exception process from the related ordinance. The council wants the CPC to hold a public hearing before it amends the ordinance.
The motion appears likely to pass with all six council members supporting the measure.
The other asks the CPC to study whether a block cap restriction with no special exception process would be better than case-by-case exceptions, and directs the CPC to hold a public hearing on the issue.
Right now, the measure has the support of every council member except Council President Helena Moreno.
