Amid enforcement challenges, Highland Park looks to add further guardrails on short-term rentals

Enforcing existing short-term rental regulations has not been easy in Highland Park, and city leaders are considering a new round of regulations aimed at tightening oversight of the properties often listed on sites like Airbnb.

Highland Park first adopted short-term rental regulations in 2020, making them an accessory use to those who own a single family home. As the definition outlines, “short-term rentals are the accessory use of dwelling units for overnight accommodation that is available for rent by transient guests for a period shorter than 30 consecutive days.”

At the meeting, Fontane said 12 short-term rentals are registered with the City.

Highland Park’s zoning code requires registration for short-term rentals, but more regulation would be useful, said Joel Fontane, director of community development, at the Committee of the Whole meeting on Feb. 23.

He added that “those who have complained feel very strongly that short-term rentals should not be allowed.”

Enforcement efforts for short-term rentals most recently collected more than $9,000 in fines for a particular location that received to 11-13 citations, according to Fontane.

“Enforcement by a government has been difficult if the government is trying to see if a particular property is an Airbnb,” said Steven Elrod, the village’s corporation counsel, said, adding that it poses a problem because Airbnb’s have now “blocked out government emails knowing that there are enforcement efforts.”

Fontane believes that the City needs additional tools to aid enforcement.

In his proposal, he said additional information “will greatly improve enforcement” and suggested purchasing short-term rental data from data brokers. This could give the city monthly reports from which they could “contact people who violate the law and tell them to abide by it,” he said.

Fontane’s suggested making property owners list their primary residence, complete with documented evidence, making it simpler to keep out investor-owned short-term rentals.

“For investors that are buying houses for the sole purpose of having a short-term rental, the concept of a primary residence curtails that,” Elrod said.

Whoever lives in a primary residence used as a short-term rental, Fontane suggested, should also have at least two of: 1.) a valid state of Illinois driver’s license; 2.) a valid voter registration card; 3.) a valid Illinois motor vehicle registration; and 4.) a valid Illinois tax return for the most recent year.

“I do think that these proposed amendments will help tremendously in the problems associated with short term rentals,” Fontane said. “And it would make sure people are utilizing this appropriately.”

All City Council members supported the proposed additional regulations: purchasing data and requiring more primary-residence information upon registration. No one was in favor of a prohibition on short-term rentals.

Other approaches to regulating short-term rentals include geographic limitations to mitigate a large concentration of short-term rentals (as other cities do so), prohibition of short-term rentals in certain zoning districts, and a license application rather than registration.

Elrod also suggested that the city use its power to tax those who don’t abide by the rules for short-term rentals.

Next steps are formally considering the code amendments, researching and purchasing data broker services to use for enforcement, and conducting a survey of communities about short-term rental regulation in upcoming discussions.

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