Loading...
In order to assure maximum opportunity for a wide range of investors and persons, no person shall hold more than a maximum of four non-host-occupied licenses, as determined by ownership interests. Where a short-term rental dwelling license is held by a limited liability corporation, the license shall be considered held by its members.
(Ord. O-11-23, passed 6-28-2023)
(A) There shall be no more than two short-term rental licenses per structure.
(B) In order to protect the residential character of Covington’s national historic districts and neighborhoods, protect the affordability of its housing stock for long-term residents, and encourage investment in underserved neighborhoods, the following density limits are established:
(1) Historic districts, with boundaries as set forth on the National Register of Historic Places.
(a) Downtown Commercial, including 1991, 1996 and 2001 expansions: unlimited number of
non-host-occupied short-term rental units with no distance separation requirements.
(b) Licking Riverside: maximum of five non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face.
(c) Mutter Gottes: maximum of 12 non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per blockface, except that on Fourth Street and Fifth Street there may be no more than three non-host-occupied short-term rental units per block face.
(d) Ohio Riverside, including 1987 expansion: one short-term rental unit per block face, host-occupied only.
(2) Neighborhoods, with boundaries as set forth on the City of Covington website and as may be amended in the future.
(a) Austinburg Neighborhood: maximum of ten non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(b) Botany Hills Neighborhood: maximum of 12 non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(c) City Heights Neighborhood: no host- or non-host-occupied short-term rentals allowed;
(d) Eastside and Helentown Neighborhoods combined, except that portion of the Neighborhoods included in the Downtown Commercial Historic District, including expansions: maximum of 15 non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(e) Kuhr’s Lane Neighborhood: maximum of three non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(f) Kenton Hills Neighborhood: maximum of three non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(g) Latonia, including the West Latonia, Latonia Milldale, Latonia Ritte’s East and Latonia Rosedale Neighborhoods combined: maximum of 20 non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(h) Levassor Park Neighborhood: maximum of three non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(i) Lewisburg Neighborhood: maximum of eight non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(j) Main Strasse Neighborhood: maximum of 25 non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face, except that in the TUMU zone within the Main Strasse Historic District break out commercial zone there may be no more than three non-host-occupied short-term rental units per block face;
(k) Monte Casino Neighborhood: maximum of five non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(l) Peaselburg Neighborhood: maximum of ten non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(m) Seminary Square Neighborhood: maximum of seven non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(n) South Covington Neighborhood: maximum of five non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(o) Wallace Woods Neighborhood: maximum of seven non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face;
(p) West Fifteenth Street Neighborhood: maximum of one non-host-occupied short-term rental unit; and
(q) Westside Neighborhood, except that portion of the Neighborhood included in the Downtown Commercial Historic District, including expansions: maximum of seven non-host-occupied short-term rental units, with no more than one per block face.
(3) Remainder of the city. No short-term rental structures permitted.
(Ord. O-11-23, passed 6-28-2023; Ord. O-08-24, passed 5-14-2024)
(A) The application for a short-term rental dwelling license shall require the following information:
(1) The current street address of the unit to be licensed;
(2) The name, address, email address, and phone numbers of the owner of the premises or corporation’s owner’s representative, as applicable;
(3) If the owner is not a natural person, the applicant shall identify all partners, officers and directors of any such entity and provide their personal contact information;
(4) The name, address, email address, and phone number of the designated rental agent;
(5) The number of bedrooms in the unit and maximum occupancy;
(6) The number and location of parking spaces allotted to the unit;
(7) Documentary evidence of actual notice to all adjacent property owners of intent to apply for a license within 30 days prior to submission of the application; failure to notify all adjacent property owners will disqualify the application;
(8) If the applicant is a lessee of the property, evidence of approval by the property owner for authority to operate the unit as a short-term rental;
(9) The rental agent’s written statement of acceptance of the responsibilities;
(10) A list of all hosting platforms through which the short-term rental is listed or is reasonably anticipated to be listed; and
(11) (a) If the license application is for a short-term rental, host occupied, the host must submit a sworn affidavit stating that the primary dwelling unit is the legal residence and domicile of the applicant and provide proof of residency in the form of two of the following:
1. A valid Kentucky driver’s license, other state issued I.D., or other identification recognized by the Covington Police Department;
2. Registration for vehicles owned by and registered in the name of the applicant;
3. Voter registration card;
4. Previous year’s W-2 form or IRS tax return;
5. Deed; or
6. Utility bill.
(b) This requirement may also be satisfied if the owner’s address in the Kenton County PVA is the same as the address of the short-term rental.
(B) The applicant shall certify that to the best of his, her or its knowledge, the short-term rental is in conformity with:
(1) The Kentucky Building Code (residential only);
(2) The International Residential Code (one- and two-family dwellings);
(3) International Property Maintenance Code;
(4) The Fire Code NFPA; and
(5) The Life Safety Code NFPA 101.
(C) The applicant shall further acknowledge that the short-term rental must at all times maintain compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations, ordinances or other rules or codes governing the operation of the short-term rental, including the Covington Nuisance Code;
(D) The applicant shall acknowledge an obligation to use his or her best effort to assure that use of the premises by a short-term rental tenant will not disrupt the neighborhood and will not interfere with the rights of neighboring property owners to the quiet enjoyment of their properties.
(E) The City Manager or a designee shall have the authority to obtain additional information from the applicant as necessary to achieve the objectives of this chapter.
(Ord. O-11-23, passed 6-28-2023; Ord. O-08-24, passed 5-14-2024)
(A) Applications shall not be considered complete unless all documentation required is submitted and the full license fees have been paid. Incomplete applications will be rejected.
(B) The applicant will be notified of a final determination on an application no later than 30 days following submission of a complete application.
(C) A city code inspector shall inspect the property prior to the issuance of the license and the short-term rental unit must pass inspection to obtain the license.
(D) If the inspection finds violation of any of the codes, the code inspector shall provide written notice to the rental agent and the license application shall not be further considered until the code violations are corrected and the unit successfully reinspected. If the violations are not corrected within 20 days after notice of violation, the application shall be denied, unless the deadline is further extended by the code inspector.
(E) All application denials shall be in writing and shall set forth specific reasons for the denial.
(F) An application may be denied if:
(1) The applicant is not in good standing with the City of Covington;
(2) The applicant has made a material misrepresentation of fact on the application;
(3) The short-term rental premises are subject to outstanding orders from a city department that have not been corrected;
(4) The short-term rental premises have been determined to be a location of a criminal activity nuisance in accordance with § 92.10 of this code of ordinances;
(5) The applicant, owner, or rental agent of the short-term rental has failed to comply with or enforce the reguirements of this chapter;
(6) The maximum number of allowed licenses in the historic district, neighborhood or zone has been reached;
(7) The unit failed code inspection;
(8) Ownership limits set forth in § 127.06 have been reached; and/or
(9) Other identified violations of the requirements of this subchapter.
(G) Any short-term rental dwelling license applicant or licensee aggrieved by any license application denial, may, within seven days of receipt of notice of such action, file a written appeal with the Rental License Appeals Board setting forth his or her reasons for contesting the action.
(Ord. O-11-23, passed 6-28-2023; Ord. O-08-24, passed 5-14-2024)
(A) The operator of a short-term rental shall designate a short-term rental agent on its application for a short-term rental license.
(B) Short-term rental agent means a natural person designated by the operator of a short-term rental on the short-term rental license application. Such person shall be available for and responsive to contact at all times and someone who is customarily present at a location within the city for purposes of transacting business. A short-term rental host may also serve as the short-term rental agent.
(C) A host may change the designation of a short-term rental agent temporarily or permanently; however, there shall be only one such agent for a property at a given time. To change the designated agent, the host shall notify Covington Code Enforcement in writing of the new agent’s identity, together with all information regarding such person as reguired by the applicable provisions of § 127.08.
(Ord. O-11-23, passed 6-28-2023)
(A) The duties of the short-term rental agent are:
(1) Manage the business affairs of the short-term rental unit, including responsibility for all advertising;
(2) Be reasonably available to handle any problems arising from use of the short-term rental unit;
(3) Appear on the premises of any short-term rental unit within one hour following notification from the city that occupants of the short-term rental unit have created unreasonable noise or disturbances; engaged in disorderly conduct, overcrowding, or consumption of illegal drugs or excess alcohol; or other issues related to the use or occupancy of the premises;
(4) Keep his or her name and emergency contact phone number and the license number of the unit posted in a readily visible place in the short-term rental unit;
(5) Provide tenants with instructions to comply with noise, parking, occupancy and curfew ordinances;
(6) Provide his or her name and emergency contact phone number to adjoining property owners;
(7) Receive and accept service of any notice of violation related to the use or occupancy of the premises;
(8) Monitor the short-term rental unit for compliance with this chapter;
(9) List the short-term rental license number on each hosting platform; a rental agent may not use a hosting platform that does not provide a field for the city license number;
(10) Ensure compliance with the city’s solid waste and recycling rules, including trash collection schedule; and
(11) Provide access to the unit upon request by Code Enforcement or police officials responding to complaints.
(B) Any violation of these duties shall be considered a violation of the city code relating to short-term rental units for purposes of application of the penalty for accumulated violations.
(Ord. O-11-23, passed 6-28-2023)
(A) Nondiscrimination. The host or rental agent shall not decline a potential guest, impose different terms or conditions, or discourage or indicate any preference for or against a guest based on race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, color, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, familial status, or military status.
(B) Maximum occupancy. The number of occupants shall not exceed two adults per bedroom, plus two additional persons; regardless of the number of bedrooms the maximum occupancy of a short-term rental unit shall not exceed 12 persons, including children.
(C) Minimum stay required. No short-term rental shall be offered for a period of less than one night.
(D) Event advertising restriction. The rental agent or tenant shall not advertise or promote a special event, or allow the advertising and promotion of a special event (e.g. event center, banquet, wedding, reception, reunion, bachelor or bachelorette party, concert, or any similar activity that would assemble large numbers of invitees) to be held on the premises.
(E) Special events prohibited. The rental agent or tenant shall not allow, suffer or permit an event center or special event as described above to be held on the premises.
(F) Posting of host rules. The host or rental agent operating a short-term rental shall provide a notice of instructions (also known as “host rules”) to occupants staying at the premises. The notice shall instruct the occupants as to all applicable city regulations pertaining to short-term rentals. These include, but are not limited to, occupancy restrictions, limits on parking, trash pickup, prohibitions on special events, limits on noise, and curfew times.
(G) Posting of license number. The license number shall be posted on the premises along with the contact information of the property owner and rental agent.
(H) Advertising. A valid, active short-term rental license number issued by the city shall be included on every hosting platform listing or any newspaper, magazine, brochure, website, or mobile application advertisement.
(I) The host, rental agent or tenant of a short-term rental shall not allow, permit, or make any noise that would be in violation of the city’s noise ordinance.
(J) Parking restrictions. The rental agent may not allow parking of vehicles on public streets not in accordance with city ordinances.
(Ord. O-11-23, passed 6-28-2023)
(A) The application to renew a short-term rental dwelling license shall be submitted no earlier than 60 days and no later than 30 days before its expiration date. If a person fails to apply for renewal as provided herein, he, she or it must apply for a new registration rather than a renewal.
(B) Every complete application for a short-term rental dwelling license renewal shall include updates, if any, to the information contained in the previous license application and be signed by the license holder affirming that updated information is accurate and complete.
(C) Verifications deemed necessary and proper to ensure continuing compliance with this chapter may be required.
(D) Applications shall not be considered complete until all documentation required is submitted. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
(E) A license will be issued only after the full licensure fee has been paid.
(F) The renewal application may be denied, in writing, for any of the reasons set forth in § 127.09(F).
(Ord. O-11-23, passed 6-28-2023)
(A) Any action unfavorable to the applicant or licensee, including license denial, suspension or revocation, or decisions related to violations of this chapter may be appealed to the Rental License Appeals Board.
(B) Adjacent property owners or their neighborhood association may, within 30 days of the grant of a license, appeal any action by the city granting a license in reliance on incomplete or inaccurate information contained in the application required by § 127.08 or violation of the density limits established in § 127.07.
(Ord. O-11-23, passed 6-28-2023; Ord. O-08-24, passed 5-14-2024)
Loading...