Christina Sandefur and Jared Blanchard

AZ We See It

Glenn Odegard is a criminal.

At least, according to officials in Jerome. He faces steep fines and jail time for his lawbreaking. He didn’t commit robbery or murder. He broke the law by letting guests stay in his house.

Like a growing number of cities nationwide, Jerome now forbids so-called “vacation rentals” or “short-term rentals.” And the punishments can be severe.

Sedona residents could go to jail if they let people stay in their homes for commercial purposes — a prohibition so broadly written that people could be punished for hiring baby-sitters or live-in health-care workers. Honolulu fines people up to $10,000 per day for letting guests stay in their homes. Some California cities even forbid adults under 30 years old from renting rooms.

MY TURN:Home-sharing sites need Arizona's help

GOLDWATER:They saved homes, then the rules changed

Proponents of these bans usually justify them as ways to prevent noise and limit neighborhood traffic. But cities already have ordinances on the books that target dangerous or obnoxious activities. Local officials should enforce those, instead of imposing blanket bans on rentals.

Cities do not forbid all backyard barbecues just because some might get noisy, or prohibit people from holding birthday parties because guests might park on the street that night. Instead, they enforce reasonable restrictions on noise and traffic, while respecting people’s rights to use their property.

One-size-fits-all vacation-rental bans turn neighbors into spies — checking over the backyard fence to make sure there are no paying guests — and they hurt local tourism and diminish property values. That’s why even highly regulated San Francisco recently voted down a ban on vacation rentals.

Arizona should follow suit. State legislators have an opportunity to protect quiet, clean and safe neighborhoods while respecting property rights and encouraging economic growth. Senate Bill 1350 would let local governments restrict nuisances, without imposing unnecessary and burdensome across-the-board bans.

The bill is sorely needed. Consider Odegard’s experience. In 2012, he bought an abandoned house in Jerome that had stood vacant for 60 years after a landslide filled it with rocks and mud. He lovingly restored it to its original historical condition so that he could rent it out to visitors. The house is now so pretty it was featured on the cover of Arizona Highways.

But Odegard's reward for his hard work was to be deemed an outlaw. Even though they had already given him a business permit and encouraged the project, town officials abruptly announced that vacation rentals violated local zoning rules years after Odegard began openly offering his home as a vacation rental. They threatened local residents with fines and even jail time if they violate the new edict.

Obviously cities should restrict nuisances, noise and crime. But existing ordinances already do that by targeting specific wrongful behavior, instead of forbidding people from using their own property in responsible ways. SB 1350 strikes this reasonable balance. It allows local governments to regulate rental properties in ways that protect public health and safety, but prevents the kinds of draconian bans that cause more problems than they solve.

Arizona lawmakers should protect livable neighborhoods, while encouraging the free enterprise, hard work and responsible stewardship that people like Glenn Odegard represent. SB 1350 would foster those values — and stop making responsible property owners into outlaws.