BATAVIA – Batavia city officials are hearing a growing chorus of complaints with the growing popularity of short-term private home rentals.

Batavia Community Development Director Scott Buening told city aldermen at a recent committee meeting that a search showed 15 rooms available through online rental site Airbnb.com and two more listed on VRBO.com [vacation rentals by owner], up from about five just two years ago.

“Complaints have been received about the transient nature of these types of rentals,” Buening said, adding that some are being used as “party houses.”

Mayor Jeff Schielke confirmed that he has received complaints about loud parties at homes used for short-term rentals. Schielke said several such homes are clustered along one street, but declined to say where. The sites do not list addresses of available rentals.

Buening told aldermen that the city already has ordinances on the books to regulate short-term rentals and could begin enforcing those codes immediately.

“If we begin active enforcement of our codes, it is likely that many of these accommodations will cease to operate due to the complex regulations they will need to comply with to keep operating,” Buening said.

Those regulations include obtaining a license to operate a bed-and-breakfast and paying a 3 percent hotel tax on gross nightly receipts, Buening said.

Short-term rentals are classified as those lasting less than 30 consecutive days, but more than 10 nights per calendar year, Buening said. A home rented out for more than 30 consecutive days is considered a lease, he added.

The city’s bed-and-breakfast ordinance mirrors language in state law, Buening said, explaining that he is working with City Attorney Kevin Drendel to clear up an ambiguity in the law as to whether the owner of the property must be living there while guests are staying at the premises.

Once this issue is clarified, Buening expects to return to aldermen for direction on enforcement.

“We do not believe that new ordinances are required as we can just enforce what is on the books already,” Buening said. “Similarly, the hotel tax is already on the books. We just have not been going after Airbnb and similar operators to collect this.”

Several aldermen expressed concern about imposing regulations on businesses and said that the city already has ordinances at its disposal for responding to noise complaints.

“There are already laws dealing with house problems,” 2nd Ward Alderman Marty Callahan said.