Chicago’s business community helped stall legislation that would give the City Council more control over where Airbnb and other short-term rentals operate in the city.
A vote on an ordinance introduced by Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, was delayed at the City Council today despite sailing through committee with little resistance.
Since that committee vote on June 11, a bevy of Chicago business groups and chambers of commerce, including the Illinois Realtors, sent letters to members of the City Council urging that they rethink greenlighting a measure that would allow the local alderman to ban short-term rentals on a precinct level without a petition drive showing neighborhood resistance.
“Until we have a comprehensive citywide policy that allows for more flexibility, including the legalization of (accessory dwelling units), we appreciated the sponsor’s willingness to protect private property rights,” Adriann Murawski, government affairs director at Illinois Realtors, said in a statement.
Instead, members of the City Council could push ordinances banning short-term rentals that could only be overturned if the alderman changed course and sponsored a measure after the company or local residents gathered the signatures of 15% of precinct voters.
Facing an uncertain vote that may have been struck down, Napolitano asked Ald. Debra Silverstein, 50th, who chairs the License & Consumer Protection Committee that advanced the ordinance, to delay consideration.
After the meeting, Napolitano said he hasn’t conceded defeat, but "what worries me down here . . . is you can have the votes up until that vote gets called and then they change.”
"I'm not trying to hurt the industry, but we have to be able to advocate for our wards," he said. "I'll hold it, but you've got to sit down with me and talk to me about it and see what we can change.”
Some aldermen, including Ald. Matt O’Shea, 19th, expressed concern because city revenue from Airbnb fees go toward domestic violence programs.
Napolitano said he’ll try to address that.
"Can we find a way to allocate more funds towards domestic violence victims and homeless people? Absolutely. We're failing as a city on that anyway,” he said.
The ordinance would not affect existing legal rentals, which would be grandfathered in, but aldermen would gain full control over future rentals in their wards.
Napolitano told his colleagues ahead of the committee vote that the current system “has no teeth” and if they support rentals in their wards they don’t have to ban them.
"If you don't have a problem, this doesn't affect you at all. If you do have problem spots, it gives you the ability to attend to those problem spots,” he said.
In a statement, Jonathan Buckner, Chicago policy manager at Airbnb, said, "We're grateful to the many Airbnb hosts and organizations in Chicago who voiced concerns with how Alderman Napolitano's proposed ordinance would impact everyday Chicagoans and the City's tourism economy — and we thank the Alderman for listening to those concerns.”
