Earlier this month we aired a story from Sandy Hausmanabout AirBnB in Richmond - and how the home-sharing experience is, essentially, illegal there. Another Virginia city, however, has recently embraced the trend.
AirBnB has never exactly been ‘illegal’ in Roanoke, but when the idea of short-term rental was blooming, the City didn’t know what to make of it. River Laker was one of the first in Roanoke to register on AirBnB:
“And I got a letter from the city saying something to the effect of, ‘you’re operating as a bed and breakfast establishment, and that’s not permitted without going through the hoops.’”
And Laker said that wasn’t so - he provided a bed, but no breakfast:
“And eventually it came to the point of – the city has the authority to deem something as a bed and breakfast even though it doesn’t necessarily meet the description of what a bed and breakfast is. Whereas, my point was, there’s no code that applies to this. If they write a code, I’ll be happy to comply.”
So the city created a special permit. Chris Chittum is Roanoke City Planning Director
“It establishes or defines the use ‘homestay’ as a generic term for people who may rent rooms in their house or apartment.”
The permit essentially differentiates a B&B from an AirBnB, or homestay - for example, a Bed and Breakfast must be in a detached, single-family home dwelling, while a homestay can be anything:
“A bed and breakfast can have up to six sleeping rooms, as we call them, or bedrooms. And a maximum number of guests at 12, whereas a homestay is smaller – they can have up to 2 bedrooms and a total of 4 guests. So those are the distinguishing characteristics between the two.”
In Richmond, it’s one-thousand dollars to apply for a special use permit-- while in Roanoke, it’s just $250 to apply. All in all, Laker says it’s a good thing for tourism:
“I’m not exaggerating in that most people who stay with me only know the name Roanoke, they know nothing about it. And I can hardly think of anyone who leaves not loving the city and being amazed at what we have here.”
There are 5 listings within Roanoke city limits, and over 30 in the immediate surrounding area.
