The Union County Short-Term Rental Board used its work session meeting on Monday, July 27, to review the county’s short-term rental ordinance and discuss several proposed revisions aimed at improving fire safety and eliminating a potential conflict of interest on the board.
According to Short-Term Rental Enforcement Officer Megan Kimsey, the board has been reviewing the ordinance throughout the year but designated this meeting to conduct a more comprehensive audit of the regulations adopted in 2023.
Continue reading with a free account.
North Georgia News — serving Union County since 1909.
No card required. Just sign up.
“It’s kind of been slowly something we’ve been whittling away at (during) every board meeting,” Kimsey said.
She said most of the revisions center on fire safety, which for the most part means adding clearer language to the ordinance to help educate property owners and renters on the safe use of recreational fires, fire pits, grills and indoor heating appliances.
“We want to make sure everyone is very much aware of how to handle fires,” Kimsey said. “Most people that are renting are coming from big cities where there’s natural gas as heat, so coming to a place where it’s got a wood-burning stove, that’s going to be a learning curve.”
Kimsey said the changes would primarily clarify existing language within the ordinance by adding guidance on wood-burning stoves, fireplaces and gas heating systems.
The board also discussed defining recreational fires more clearly and referencing a forthcoming Union County Fire Department short-term rental fire safety policy, rather than listing specific requirements in the ordinance. Kimsey said doing this will make it easier for the county to update fire safety policies in the future without having to amend the ordinance each time.
The proposed revisions would still require property owners to install accessible fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors on every level of a rental property, as well as smoke alarms throughout the home.
A second proposed change would remove the short-term rental enforcement officer as a voting member of the board. Kimsey, who currently holds that position, said the change would allow her to remain secretary of the board while removing a potential conflict of interest caused by her duties to both issue citations and vote on those cases.
“I feel like my position needs to be more neutral, and I don’t need to have the authority to be able to vote on something and write a citation,” Kimsey said.
If that change is approved, she said the board would add another voting member to replace the enforcement officer’s voting position.
“(The board is) very invested in what they do,” she said. “They’re fully dedicated, so it feels great to know that they’ve got my back, and they’ve got the community’s back as well.”
Before the proposed ordinance revisions can take effect, they will be reviewed by County Attorney William Mercer and discussed with Sole Commissioner Harold Collins. The changes will then go through a first reading, during which the public can comment, followed by a second and final reading for formal adoption at a county meeting.
