Aug. 21—Two short-term rental regulations battled on the City Council floor Monday, with no victor.
Both had the goal of preserving housing stock in a city struggling against a housing crisis. The proposed regulations on the short-term rental industry make up part of the city's Housing Forward initiative, which aims to combat the city's housing shortage by bringing an additional 5,000 housing units to Albuquerque through zoning code changes and additional regulations.
One would have added a cap on the number of short-term rentals in the City of Albuquerque. The bill would have limited the number of short-term rental properties to 1,800, required a local manager to be available to respond to complaints and maintenance requests, and limited the number of rentals per person to three.
The other was a floor substitute, which revised and removed much of the original legislation. The cap, local manager, and individual limits were slashed — in their place was a minimum distance of 330 feet between short-term rental units. It also would have removed the criminal penalties for violations of existing short-term rental regulations.
Some homeowners and housing advocates came out in favor of the original regulations, with a few public commenters describing the disruptions caused by vacation rentals in their neighborhoods. Several short-term rental operators spoke out against both versions of the bill.
Although bill co-sponsor Tammy Fiebelkorn said she preferred the original legislation, she said the floor substitute was a "compromise" between neighborhood and industry interests, and made an effort toward preserving housing stock.
"We do need to do something," Fiebelkorn said, and noted the high cost of replacing housing.
But the floor substitute failed, as councilors voted 6-3 against adopting the replacement.
Subsequently, the original legislation failed 6-3. Councilors Pat Davis, Tammy Fiebelkorn and Isaac Benton voted in favor; Councilors Dan Lewis, Louie Sanchez, Brook Bassan, Renée Grout and Trudy Jones voted against.
This story is breaking and will be updated.