“We’ve been having these discussions with hotel developers for several years,” City Manager Scott Brunka said. “The hotel developers say there isn’t enough demand to justify building a full-service hotel at this time.”
He said that could change as Lebanon expands its major employment center near Interstate 71/Ohio 48.
Until then, the limited number of lodging facilities, “impacts the city’s ability to capitalize on the tourism the community works to bring to the city,” Brunka said.
Short-term and vacation rentals can only be operated in the Central Business District in Lebanon now, but city council is considering changes that would allow this to be expanded.
During the recently completed Comprehensive Plan process, a need to reinforce neighborhoods was identified. Brunka said residents raised concerns with absentee and out of town landlords as 60% of multi-family residential properties in Lebanon are currently owned by out-of-town individuals or firms.
Other concerns raised included introducing a transient population into residential neighborhoods that could impact adjacent properties; and converting existing long-term residences to short-term rentals could add market pressures on Lebanon’s challenging housing market.
“It’s a hot-button topic, but it’s something the city needs to take a very close look at,” Brunka said.
Councilman Scott Norris, a general contractor and an owner of rentals in the community, said he’s in favor of expanding the number of short-term/vacation rentals in the community because of the limited lodging inventory. He’s been approached by various people about the issue, but doesn’t anticipate a huge influx of people swooping in to purchase properties for short-term/vacation rentals.
“I’m in favor of expanding and providing more flexibility, with conditions,” he said.
Norris said organizations such as the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Lebanon are developing community events to attract area residents and tourists. He also said there is a need for short-term rentals for people who have been displaced due to a fire or people whose home sale closed faster than anticipated and are between homes.
“We have a lot more to talk about this issue,” he said. “We have a lot of large events coming this summer. If people are doing it, I don’t want them sneaking around. If we expand it, we can capture the summer events.”
Another concern is there isn’t any regulations to track registration or payment of lodging taxes to the city or Warren County, Brunka said. He said the city is aware of four properties being used as short-term/vacation rentals and estimates there may be another eight to 10 more in operation.
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