Don't look now, but the Portage Lakes have turned into a tourist destination. And some of the permanent residents are livid.

During the last few years, houses all over the Lakes have been rented out via the online marketing giants Airbnb and Vrbo to groups that, neighbors say, raise hell night and day and are ruining the character of their neighborhoods.

The trend has turned once-stable areas populated by on-site owners into semi-commercial places with random motels, says Dan Fouser, who has been among those leading a fight — thus far unsuccessful — to ban them in Coventry Township, the entity with the most property in the Lakes.

“There's a place right around the corner from us where they had a bachelor party that lasted Thursday, Friday, Saturday and finished on Sunday,” he says.

“The oldest one was probably about 23. And they were just drunker than skunks, puking over the balconies, awake all night long, yelling, screaming. You call the police, they don't show.

“That's just not designed to be in a residential area.”

Not exactly what he anticipated when he shelled out big bucks to be on the water.

“I'm paying $11,000 a year in taxes to be there and that's what I have. There's a rental across the street and another two houses down from me.”

Fouser says some absentee property owners bought their houses specifically to profit from Airbnb/Vrbo rentals.

Although the township passed new regulations in July requiring Airbnb/Vrbo owners to register and receive permits, most of them have just blown off the requirement, and Coventry doesn't appear to be taking any action to enforce it.

Coventry zoning inspector Bill Meyerhoff did not respond to a detailed email sent Tuesday.

But this issue is certainly not limited to the Lakes. Two years ago, normally placid Bath was involved in an Airbnb controversy after a drive-by shooting at a rental where 250 guests were partying at a house that was advertised as accommodating no more than 20.

Airbnb's website shows more than 300 listings for the Akron area, including rooms, houses and apartments in Fairlawn, Cuyahoga Falls, Kent, Firestone Park, Highland Square, West Akron, North Hill and Springfield Lake.

You can rent a single room in Highland Square for $21 a night. You can rent a six-bedroom “Designer's Barn” in Peninsula for $608 per night. You want it, somebody's got it.

Vrbo has a slew of Akron-area listings as well, including 12 on the Portage Lakes. One of those offerings is an excellent example of what permanent residents fear: a house with one bedroom that “sleeps 10.”

Yikes.

Based on the number of customer reviews, that house has been rented at least 56 times.

Coventry and Bath are far from unique. Heated battles have been raging all over the country. Many municipalities have outlawed Airbnb and Vrbo entirely, often based on existing regulations covering “short-term rentals.” But enforcement can be tough.

Akron is among the cities trying to sort it all out.

“This is a subject we have been discussing and researching for some time,” says City Hall spokeswoman Ellen Lander Nischt.

“Right now, Akron homeowners can and do utilize Airbnb, Vrbo and other similar short-term rental services. From a zoning standpoint, occasional use of Airbnb is still considered 'residential' use ….

“If a homeowner frequently or continuously rents their property on a short-term basis, it could be considered a 'hotel' use, which would not be permitted in a single-family residential neighborhood without a conditional use granted by city council.”

She says zoning enforcement is “complaint-based.”

Within the next six months, she says, the city will likely introduce legislation that “will provide more clarity related to when, where, and how property owners can potentially rent their properties on a short-term basis.

“Banning short-term rentals altogether simply isn’t a realistic approach, given the seemingly unstoppable rise of 'peer-to-peer' services like Airbnb, Uber, coworking offices, bike-sharing and more.

“The goal of any short-term rental scheme we would propose would be to preserve the residential character of Akron neighborhoods, prioritize safety, and create a framework that is fair to property owners, prospective visitors and neighbors.”

Lander Nischt says the administration has been researching best practices in other cities.

Vrbo, which stands for Vacation Rentals By Owner, has been around since 1995. The homeowner pays an annual subscription.

Property owners who use Airbnb, founded in 2008, pay a commission for each booking. The company originally was called AirBed & Breakfast because the founders started off by advertising the rental of an air mattress in their rented San Francisco loft to reduce their costs.

In the Lakes, there's no sign any of this will stop anytime soon.

Owners of rental properties are “just thumbing their nose” at the township, says homeowner Fouser.

“Nobody is going in [for a permit]. They wrote certified letters to each of the people. Guess how many showed up? One person.”

Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31