Anchorage Assembly Approves Ordinance to License Short-Term Rentals

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​Last night, the Anchorage Assembly approved AO 2023-110(S-1), As Amended, an ordinance sponsored by Member Randy Sulte and Vice Chair Meg Zaletel to create a program to license short-term rentals. The license requirements will go into effect no earlier than September 15, giving the Municipal Clerk time to set up licensing procedures and work with local operators to register.

"A goal of this ordinance is to safeguard the renter, the property and neighborhood value," said ordinance co-sponsor Assembly Member Randy Sulte. "Currently, neighbors of short-term rentals have little recourse for dealing with problem properties. This ordinance puts into place a system to enforce existing public safety requirements and require short-term rental owners respond to problems in a timely manner."

Ordinance co-sponsor Vice Chair Meg Zaletel added, "our community is in the midst of a housing crisis and we simply don't have the data to understand how short-term rentals are effecting our housing market. This program will give us data that is currently held tightly by the rental platforms to make informed decisions in the future."

About the Licensing Program

• Applies to property owners who rent out units for less than 30-day increments; the license fee is waived for deployed military, operators who rent for less than 15 rental days per year, owners who live on site or a neighboring property as their primary residence, and STRs that also rent long term for more than 180 days per year.
• A $200 to $400 annual license fee with a 1- or 2-year period determined by the Clerk upon implementation and evaluated annually to cover administrative cost.
• Requirement of $500K minimum insurance coverage, comparable to a bed & breakfast of similar size, which is waived for insurance provided by several major platforms.
• Requires 24/7 On-Call Manager AND/OR an alternate to respond within 24hours through a variety of means.
• Requires short-term rental owners and guests abide by all applicable existing municipal noise, housing, public health, trash storage and disposal, and fire and safety ordinances.
• The Municipal Clerk has no less than 180 days to develop licensing procedures.

As the licensing program is established, information can be found on the Municipal Clerk's licensing site.​