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St. Louis Residents Have a Plan to Solve the Short-Term Rental Problem | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

September 26, 2023

Natural Bridge

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There are about 4,600 short-term rentals in St. Louis city, according to short-term rental tracker AirDNA.

Steve Pona says he didn’t understand the impact of short-term rentals until one opened right next door.

What he describes as a “hook-up joint” and “party hall” opened next to his home in St. Louis’ Southwest Garden neighborhood and became a magnet for crime.

Then another short-term rental opened nearby. Then another, and another, until, according to Pona’s count, seven were operating within 500 feet of his residence.

“They’re destroying the character of our neighborhood,” Pona says.

So Pona and more residents with similar concerns decided to do something about it. Pona is part of a new citizen-led group called Neighborhoods Are for Neighbors. The group seeks to address challenges created by short-term rentals in St. Louis as they fear a plan now being deliberated by city leaders falls short.

St. Louis is one of only a few municipalities in the area that has no rules on short-term rentals booked through platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO. The Board of Aldermen is considering two bills to change that.

But Pona, along with other members of Neighborhoods Are for Neighbors, view the bills now on the table as inadequate proposals that are near-unenforceable and scant on oversight.

“The bill that’s currently under consideration does limit short-term rentals to some degree, but there’s a lot of loopholes and it’s very difficult to enforce,” says longtime downtown resident Les Sterman.

The citizen group came up with its own ordinance that would impose stricter limits on who can operate short-term rentals and where. Booking platforms would also have to take a more proactive approach to ensuring rentals follow rules; they’d be required to report on registered rentals to the city regularly in addition to providing auditable records upon request.

The city’s proposal would require operators to apply for permits and receive a business license for rentals in which they don’t live. Each operator would be allowed four permits.

Under Neighborhoods Are for Neighbor’s proposal, only city residents could operate short-term rentals within city limits, and they could only operate them in single-family residential areas if they’re renting out of their primary residence. Elsewhere, operators would be allowed two additional units.

The group’s proposal also says that booking platforms would have to be approved by and registered with the city, which would require Airbnb and other platforms to stay in good standing and give the city regular reports.

“Instead of the building division tracking 3,300 individual owners, they only have to work with a relatively small number of significant booking platforms, probably less than 20,” Sterman says.

The number of short-term rentals in St. Louis has increased exponentially in the past few years and even the past few months, according to short-term rental data website AirDNA.

In August, the city housed about 3,000 short-term rentals. This month, AirDNA logged 4,600.

Downtown, Sterman says the growing number of short-term rentals became apparent during the pandemic. Restaurants and bars were closed, so groups started using short-term rentals for parties and other purposes.

“The product of that was big crowds of people late at night, fights, gunfire, more car break-ins, people shooting fireworks out of windows, people shooting guns out of windows,” Sterman says.

Concerns about crime and the lack of availability of affordable housing have bubbled while the city mulls legislation to regulate short-term rentals. Meanwhile, some city residents like Pona feel stuck with rowdy and apathetic neighbors who don’t follow rental platforms’ few rules — rules which few mechanisms exist to enforce.

“They have carte blanche in the city of St. Louis right now,” Pona says. “And they’re taking advantage of it.”

The Transportation and Commerce Committee will discuss the city’s short-term rentals proposal, Board Bills 33 and 34, this morning at 9 a.m. via Zoom.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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