GULF SHORES, Ala. — With a unanimous vote, the Gulf Shores City Council passed an amendment to the zoning ordinance on Monday, creating a single family and duplex tourist rental overlay district.

For several months now, at the request of the council, staff has been working to create the overlay district that will affect the rental of single family and duplex houses.

According to the amendment, only single family and duplex homes located within the designated area could be rented out short term, which is less than 180 days. Rentals of houses outside the overlay district would no longer be allowed. The area being recognized encompasses all of West Beach Boulevard.  

A previous draft also included Fort Morgan, but was later removed from the proposal.

“The benefits of creating this overlay district are that it will recognize the historical existence of a single family and duplex rental area down the West Beach area of the city, it will permit the short term rental of single family houses and duplexes by right, and it will make the short term rental of houses outside the area easier to enforce,” said Andy Bauer, director of Planning and Zoning.

Records researched from Meyer and Kaiser rental guides, in addition to a list from the revenue department showing current business licenses for short term rentals, is how the planning and zoning developed what would be the overlay district.

There were 12 houses that were included in the proposal that are outside the specific outlined area, but were added because they have continued to keep their business licenses current and have paid their taxes.

“We did not address any issues such as parking, noise or garbage in the draft of this ordinance, and the city will continue to enforce those according to the regulations we already have,” Bauer said.

At their Aug. 25 meeting, the Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of the amended ordinance.

Because it was a public hearing, attendees at the council meeting were allowed to address the council regarding the issue, and several citizens were very vocal in their opposition to the proposal, mainly concerned that the plan showed discrimination toward property owners who were outside the specific area.

Several comments were made from citizens that the amended ordinance would cause their property values to go down, since many people buy houses in the area specifically to rent to vacationers.

“I think the idea of rental regulations, in general, is a good one, but to prohibit the short term rentals in other areas has a huge impact on me and I think it will on our community,” said citizen Martha Howard. “I think it is arbitrarily discrimination against those of us who live in other areas and it would restrict our current and future property rights. It is my understanding that you represent all citizens in Gulf Shores, not just those on West Beach Boulevard. To prohibit short term rentals in other waterfront properties is to deny me an important income source that I need to maintain my property in the future.”

Howard stated that by passing this proposed amendment, the council would be handing another financial blow to the citizens.

“After Hurricane Ivan has drained our savings accounts, after the insurance companies have practically raped us with their premiums, and after our county has gone up on our taxes by 200 and 300 percent over the past few years, this is definitely not the time to have this kind of financial impact on any of us here in the city,” Howard said.

Another argument from concerned citizens was that, by denying short term rentals in areas other than along West Beach, the council would be hurting tourists who come to Gulf Shores for vacations who sometimes prefer to stay in areas other than along the beach.

“There are some people who come down here who don’t want to stay on the beach,” Benji Thompson said. “And some of those people are middle- to upper-income people who spend their money in Gulf Shores. They go out to dinner every night. So it will have an economic impact, probably more than you realize.”

“We are not trying to take anyone’s rights away,” said Mayor Robert Craft. “Our goal here is to create a legal plan, as we move forward, to enforce the ordinances that are already on the books, which is our responsibility. There are people who live on the north side of the lagoon who bought and moved down here and wanted to live in a residential area, and they have rights too, and we want to protect their rights.”

No one, however, who was in attendance at the meeting spoke up in favor of the ordinance.

While Craft insisted that the ordinance was not taking away rights of citizens, most of those who addressed the council felt that it was.

“If you look at your zone, you are zoned single family, and that does not allow for short term rentals. That is the law,” Craft said.

The mayor said that those who live outside the proposed district would be allowed to come to the council in the future and request rezoning, and then it would be considered.