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17 <br /> Chair Rich said Anthony Carey sent the Board an email about his concerns about short- <br /> term rentals, which is below: <br /> Good Morning Orange County Commissioners, <br /> On behalf of the Orange County hospitality industry and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of <br /> Commerce, I am writing to ask the Board to consider modifications to a text amendment being <br /> considered in your public review and approval process at your April 16 meeting. Please refer to <br /> my attached letter, and thank you for your consideration in this extremely important and delicate <br /> manner. <br /> Date: April 16, 2019 <br /> To: Board of Orange County Commissioners; Penny Rich, Renee Price, Mark Dorosin, Earl <br /> McKee, Mark Marcoplos, Jamezetta Bedford. <br /> From: Anthony Carey, General Manager, Siena Hotel <br /> Cc: County Manager, Bonnie Hammersley; Deputy County Manager, Travis Myren <br /> Re: Draft Text Amendment to Unified Development Ordinance on April 16 agenda <br /> addressing Short Term Rentals in Orange County. <br /> Orange County Commissioners, <br /> On behalf of the Orange County hospitality industry and the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of <br /> Commerce, I am writing to ask the Board to consider modifications to a text amendment being <br /> considered in your public review and approval process at your April 16 meeting. <br /> Specifically, we are alerting the Board of County Commissioners to the fact that many of Orange <br /> County's hospitality owners and operators are currently working with Chapel Hill and Carrboro <br /> elected and staff leaders to regulate non-host occupied dwellings of Airbnb (also known as <br /> Short Term Rentals) to operate in the towns' limits. <br /> To this end, we ask the Orange County Board carefully consider the amendment which <br /> states: <br /> New definition of the various categories of Short-Term Rental... "allows non-host occupied <br /> dwellings which provide guestrooms for overnight rental or lease but is not occupied by a host." <br /> With the rise of AirBnB and other online rental platforms, regulation has become a complex and <br /> evolving issue for local governments. While many imagine that this is an issue for larger cities or <br /> tourist destinations, there are in fact over 2,700 U.S. cities and counties with more than 50 <br /> short-term rental (STR) listings. <br /> In Orange County we currently have 300 short-term rental listings, but the number grows <br /> exponentially each year. In 2018, it is estimated that these Short Term Rentals generated $9 <br /> million in revenues in Orange County. Many of these dwellings hosted visitors in private homes, <br /> apartment complexes and dwellings that are not obliged to follow the same inspections that <br /> traditional Orange County accommodations are required to follow. <br /> Private residences generally are not held to the same safety standards. For instance, that are <br /> no requirements for sprinkler systems or handicapped access, as there are with commercial <br /> rentals, as well as emergency exit directions, emergency lighting and fire doors. <br />