City Of Tuscaloosa Approves Moratorium On Short-Term Rentals

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a moratorium on short-term rental property requests within the city limits during its regular meeting on Tuesday.

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The moratorium passed with a 6-0 vote, with District 4 Councilor Lee Busby recusing himself.

This comes after Zoning Board of Adjustments Chair Robert Ennis was told he had lost council support for his leadership following a spat with a resident of The Highlands neighborhood over short-term rentals being allowed to operate in the historic neighborhood.

ALSO READ: Tuscaloosa ZBA Chair Steps Down Amid Fights Over Short Term Rentals

Indeed, Ennis was absent from Monday night's Zoning Board of Adjustments meeting, which saw numerous short-term rental requests considered on the eve of the Council vote on the moratorium.

The moratorium as it is written states:

"The issuances of short-term rental licenses at new addresses within the corporate limits shall be suspended and no new applications accepted effective immediately through January 31, 2023, unless further extended by this body. Applications made prior to this resolution must complete the licensing process within 30 days."

"I'm not wanting to make this a long process by any means ... but I can tell you our planning department needs a break," Council President Kip Tyner commented, alluding to the influx of short-term rental requests being processed by the department.

"There's no better time than now to reexamine where we move forward with short-term rentals while making very clear that anybody that's doing it now is grandfathered and if you already have short-term rental properties, this will not affect you," Tyner added later in the meeting.

City Attorney Scott Holmes explained that anyone in the process of applying for a short-term rental will now have 30 days to complete the necessary steps.

District 4's Busby, who has a large portion of the city's short-term rental properties in his district, asked what conditions the city will be seeking to arrive at to signal the removal of the moratorium.

Holmes responded by saying the moratorium came at the Council's request and it would ultimately be the Council's decision to extend or repeal the moratorium as elected leaders see fit.

"I think we will be able to work with the Council, [Executive Director of Urban Development Ashley Crites], and I and find the meat of the issue and hopefully find a solution to that," Holmes said.

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