As the Bellaire City Council contemplates restricting or banning short-term rentals (STRs), it is important to consider the full context, as well as alternative policies. The concerns voiced about STRs by home owners—such as loud noise, trash, and similar disturbances—are legitimate complaints. Nobody wants to live next to a “party house.”
Admittedly, there are some STRs that operate as party houses, but most STR owners are responsible and have no desire to disrupt the neighborhood. To restrict or ban STRs would penalize responsible owners for the actions of the irresponsible. This is a gross injustice. The irresponsible STR owners who operate party houses, and those they rent to, are the guilty parties, and they are the ones who should be punished.
To this end, nuisance ordinances provide a just way to penalize the guilty while protecting the property rights of the innocent. Nuisance is founded on the principle that a property owner has the right to the peaceful enjoyment of his property. Loud noise, trash, and similar disturbances are a nuisance, and those who create the nuisance, whether it is a short-term tenant, a long-term tenant, or the property owner, should be penalized.
This is not, as a headline in the Houston Chronicle claims, an issue of property rights vs. noise complaints. It is solely an issue of property rights—the freedom to produce, use, and trade material values, so long as we respect the freedom of others to do the same. Nuisance laws are an application of property rights. Nuisance laws protect our right to use and enjoy our property without loud noises, the accumulation of trash on nearby properties, or similar disturbances.
In and of itself, operating an STR does not violate the rights of anyone. Operating an STR that creates a nuisance does. This is a crucial distinction, and it must be considered in any deliberation of policies regarding STRs. To do otherwise is to ignore the full context.
Certainly, banning STRs would eliminate party houses in Bellaire. However, there is an alternative that can do the same thing, while also being fair and just to responsible property owners.