Dallas short-term rental owners pleased with ruling that blocks new city restrictions
DALLAS - Owners of short-term rentals got a win on Wednesday after a district court ruled against a Dallas ordinance that would prohibit short-term rentals in most neighborhoods.
The judge issued a temporary injunction that will prevent the City of Dallas from enforcing its short-term rental ordinance until there is a decision in the lawsuit brought by short-term rental operators.
"We were pleased with the judge's ruling, and we look forward to our day in court," said Lisa Sievers, who owns two short-term rentals in Dallas.
The Dallas ordinance would make rentals, like Airbnb and Vrbo, illegal in single-family neighborhoods.
Dallas ordinance that would ban more than 90 percent of short-term rentals temporarily blocked
The ordinance, which was approved by the Dallas City Council in June, was set to go into effect on December 13.
The court found Dallas' zoning ordinance would do "imminent and irreparable harm" to owners like Sievers.
"We're good to go ahead and continue, thanks to the injunction, to continue to operate until June 3rd. But again, it's probably going to be something that we will need to close down or rethink," said Sievers.
She says she understands the concerns of home owners who live next to bad STR operators, but she believes the solution is for the city to put more enforcement into current regulations.
"Give us a chance to put the money in the system so that we can get more code enforcement operators to work nights and weekends, and hopefully we will see a lot of the potential issues that are out there go away because, quite frankly, no one who owns a short-term rental wants to live next to a nuisance," said Sievers.
David Schwarte, the co-founder of the Texas Neighborhood Coalition, got involved in fighting short-term rentals five years ago, after he lived next door to one in Arlington.
In 2019, Arlington passed an ordinance similar to the one in Dallas.
"Our ordinance has withstood challenges in the trial court, in the Court of Appeals, and the Texas Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal," said Schwarte.
As an attorney, he says he plans to file a friend of the court brief if Dallas appeals the temporary injunction.
He believes the judge in this case got it wrong.
"The assumption that there was a constitutional right to short-term rental home in a residential neighborhood, no higher court has ever held that," said Schwarte.
He says courts usually give great deference to cities that are acting in the interest of their constituents.
Dallas City Council bans short-term rentals from single-family areas
The council voted on the issue a little before midnight, after more than four hours of testimony from dozens of people on both sides of the emotional issue.
In the case of the STR ordinance, the vote was 9 to 3 in favor.
"The elected representatives clearly heard their constituents. They recognized the threats to the neighborhood, and they acted. And we certainly hope that sooner rather than later the ordinance is allowed to go into effect," Schwarte explained.
A spokeswoman for the City of Dallas said in a statement that the city is considering whether to appeal the temporary injunction.
The case is set for trial on June 3.