Joel Burgess

jburgess@citizen-times.com

ASHEVILLE - Local property owners renting houses to tourists, some possibly in an illegal fashion, raked in more than $13 million in 2016, more than Charlotte, Raleigh and four other top North Carolina municipal areas combined.

That's according to numbers released Thursday by Airbnb, the international online short-term rental company.

Airbnb's numbers for Asheville — $13.1 million with 104,500 guests — covered all rentals with an Asheville ZIP code. That includes many places outside city limits. The numbers don't include short-term rental sales through other websites, such as Vacation Rentals by Owner.

The Asheville area made up more than a quarter of all state Airbnb sales, the company said in its Thursday release.

"Airbnb ... announced today that its North Carolina host community earned a combined $51.1 million in supplemental income while experiencing 404,000 guest arrivals to the state in 2016," the release said.

The sales more than likely include rentals done for less than 30 days inside the city's residentially zoned areas. Those are illegal and subject to $500 daily fines, according to city rules that have drawn heated political debate. One legal exception is a city-permitted "homestay" where a full-time resident stays in the home at the same time as guests.

The top 10 grossing North Carolina cities for Airbnb hosts included four in Western North Carolina:

Asheville 104,500 (guests) $13.1 Million Charlotte 33,700 $4.5 Million Raleigh 19,400 $2.4 Million Wilmington 17,000 $2 Million Durham 14,200 $2 Million Boone 10,700 $1 Million Chapel Hill 8,100 $1.1 Million Hendersonville 7,100 $757,000 Greensboro 6,600 $770,000 Black Mountain 6,600 $705,000

Outside of the state, the Associated Press reported Thursday that Las Vegas homeowners who rented to tourists through Airbnb hosted more than a quarter of a million people and earned $35.5 million.

Washington, D.C., hosts had 287,000 guests and made $59 million, while those in Atlanta, the top city in Georgia, had 140,000 guests and made $23.8 million. Savannah was the next highest in the state with 57,000 guests spending $8.2 million.

The top city in South Carolina was Charleston with 77,900 guests and $14.1 million in income. That was followed by Myrtle Beach with 21,700 and $3.1 million.

Airbnb's Asheville area numbers are different than the $18.4 million in short-term rental sales tallied by Buncombe County and the Tourism Development Authority. The TDA controls hotel taxes drawn from the county lodging industry, including Airbnb which began collecting and handing over their portion of the tax in June 2015.

The county numbers cover lodging in a bigger area — all of Buncombe. And they span the government fiscal year. From July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016, short-term rentals made up roughly 6 percent of $312 million in tourist lodging sales. They were second to hotels which made up 83 percent.

TDA Director Stephanie Brown said short-term rentals, like hotels, benefit from tourist marketing paid for with the hotel tax.

"All lodging properties share in the cost of promoting the destination and that promotion attracts visitors and all lodging properties are the beneficiaries of that shared marketing," Brown said

While profitable, some say short-term rentals can have damaging effects. The debate is happening in hot tourist destinations throughout the world, with affordable housing advocates saying the practice forces local renters and would-be homeowners out of the market and proponents saying the rentals are a way for local homeowners to supplement income by cashing in on the tourist economy.

On Tuesday, that debate sparked again among Asheville's elected officials when the City Council argued over loosening the city's ban and decided ultimately to look into the idea.

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Mayor Esther Manheimer said the council should look at lifting a small part of the tourist rental ban that covers basement apartments and other accessory dwelling units that are "under the roof of a house." Such areas would be considered homestays and the long-term resident would have to stay in the main part of the house for it to be legal under her proposal.

Manheimer wanted to keep the ban on whole-house rentals as well as garage apartments, backyard cottages and other accessory dwelling units not under the roof of the main house.

"I'm kind of looking for a way to thread the needle on this divisive topic," she said.

Some other council members agreed. But Vice Mayor Gwen Wisler said reopening the debate ran counter to the recent recommendation of a special task force.

That would mean "you are going to throw away" the work of task force volunteers, said Wisler.

"I think it sends a really not great message to any citizen volunteer."

Other council members debated the legitimacy of the task force recommendation to keep the ban. Councilman Cecil Bothwell called the process a "train wreck" while Councilman Gordon Smith said the method used was "messy" but valid.

Bothwell and Councilwoman Julie Mayfield suggested asking Airbnb to help regulate illegal rentals. Smith said that should be extended to VRBO and other online rental businesses.

Airbnb has lobbied for looser rules across the country while agreeing to collect taxes and work with some local governments, such as Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans to help police rentals

When asked Thursday if Airbnb would be willing to help regulate Asheville's rentals, regional company spokeswoman Crystal Davis didn't rule the idea out and pointed to Airbnb's similar cooperation with Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans and "dozens of other" places.

"Airbnb is committed to reaching agreements and working on fair legislation that helps to ensure a good quality life for neighborhoods in which our hosts live," Davis said.

​She said the company asks hosts to ​"adhere (to) all the laws and regulations that are applicable to their jurisdiction."

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