Murrysville waits to move forward with short-term rental ordinance

Murrysville council members are debating an ordinance regulating short-term rentals through companies like AirBnb and VRBO.

The council has split over the rental issue perceived by some as limited in scope and by others as a question of personal safety for neighbors in a residential area.

“So far, I’ve heard people reach out to me to say, ‘Don’t impact my livelihood and income over something that’s not a problem,’ ” council President Dayne Dice said.

Council has been fine-tuning an ordinance for short-term rental units, which are unregulated in Murrysville. Municipal staff began exploring a potential ordinance after receiving a small number of complaints in the past year about a rented property.

Councilwoman Jamie Lingg said a draft version of the ordinance should do away with restricting rentals to specific zoning districts (business and mixed-use) and to properties of five or more acres in residentially zoned areas.

“We don’t have an issue with these rentals in Murrysville,” Lingg said. “We aren’t a tourist area and don’t have any anticipation of becoming one.”

Lingg felt the rentals could be addressed through a simple permitting and enforcement process, and that the restrictions in the draft could be infringing on homeowners’ property rights.

Councilman Jason Lemak said that while he understands the advantages of short-term renting from a homeowner’s perspective, he feels it is important to also view it from a neighbor’s viewpoint.

“Thinking about it in terms of me sitting in my home with my children in the yard, I don’t know who could be next door. To me, that type of situation as a resident belongs in the business district, or at a hotel,” he said.

Councilman Carl Stepanovich agreed, citing a resident who’d spoken at a previous council meeting about his AirBnb rental in Murrysville.

“In essence, he was conducting a business in a residential area, which is not correct,” Stepanovich said. “He should not be doing that. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s doing it well, he has security measures and cameras and that’s how you’d want it done. But you open the door to people who are not as civic-minded.”

Councilman Tony Spadaro said council was giving too much attention to something that was not a problem in the first place.

“I think all that will happen (by creating an ordinance) is this will escalate until it’s out of control,” he said. “We haven’t given any attention to it for a long time. Now after one complaint, we want to change the rules. For what?”

AirBnb and VRBO do not initially provide exact addresses for rental properties, but a search for rentals in Murrysville over several random autumn weekends does not return any listings specifically in the municipality. Most rentals are nearby in Monroeville, with a couple in Export.

“If we don’t have a problem now, I don’t see why we need to make it more difficult for residents are making some extra income by doing it,” Dice said.

Council was generally in agreement that the rentals should require a permit. Councilman Mac McKenna said the short-term rentals can be regulated through the same process Murrysville uses for its rent-able areas.

“People rent our park pavilions, they rent our community center, and if there’s a problem, there’s a penalty for it,” he said.

Murrysville resident John Fallat said council should err on the side of homeowner rights.

“We don’t want to bring strangers in, but when someone sells their home, you don’t know the person who’s moving in,” Fallat said. “And I know it can get messy if it gets out of control, but I don’t think that’s happening. People aren’t coming to Murrysville on vacation.”

In the absence of Councilwoman Jamie Lee Korns — and with council seemingly split 3-3 on whether to move ahead — they opted to table the discussion for a future meeting.

“I think people have the right to do what they’d like with their homes,” McKenna said. “But I do think it needs to be permitted.”

Council meets next at 7 p.m. Sept. 20 at the municipal building, 4100 Sardis Road. Meetings are broadcast live on Comcast local access Channel 21 and streamed at Murrysville.com.