The New Orleans City Council will wait until after Mardi Gras to discuss new rules governing short-term rentals, like those listed on Airbnb.
According to a statement released Monday from the office of council president JP Morrell, the council will hold its next public meeting on the new regulations in early March.
The council must pass a new short-term rental law before March 31, a deadline imposed by a federal court.
Here are the dates for the upcoming meetings:
- Thursday, March 2: Special City Council Meeting
- Monday, March 13: Governmental Affairs Committee Meeting
- Thursday, March 23: Regular Council Meeting (final vote on the new rules)
Morrell’s office said it will release a draft of a new short-term rental ordinance ahead of the meeting on March 2.
No public comment regarding short-term rentals will be taken at this week’s council meeting on Thursday, Feb. 16, according to the release.
The city is under the gun to pass a new law after the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided in August 2022 that a key provision in the city’s existing law violated the U.S. Constitution.
The provision held that STR owners in residentially-zoned areas needed to prove they lived at the residence they rented out on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo by showing they had a homestead exemption for the property – essentially proving the building was their primary residence. But the court decided that measure discriminated against out-of-state investors.
Last month, the City Planning Commission recommended new ways to reign in STRs in residential neighborhoods, including capping STRs at one-per-side of the block and limiting owners to one permit. The city council will consider these recommendations at its meetings in March.