CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Robert Pruski owns short term rentals on the Island in Corpus Christi. He said short term rentals should only be in certain areas of the Island.
“Short term rentals, vacation rentals, are not a bad thing. They just have to be done correctly and put in the right locations like in the multi-families areas,” Pruski said.
The City of Corpus Christi is imposing a new $50 registration fee for short term rentals starting Tuesday.
Dan McGinn, the City of Corpus Christi’s director of the planning department said the fee is going towards software that is aimed at pinpointing short term rentals that have not registered.
“The software that we’re using has the ability to scan the different websites that have advertisements in the Flour Bluff and North Padre Island based on their zip code and so we’ll be able to generate a list and then determine that are in the correct zoning versus those that are not,” McGinn said.
The City of Corpus Christi said short term rentals cannot operate in single family residential zones.
Pruski said that fee would help regulate short term rentals, especially the ones that are running illegally.
“The houses across the street are zoned single family which they should not be allowed to do short term rentals there,” Pruski said.
Padre Island Property Association president Marvin Jones said the fee would help regulate short term rentals in single family residential zones where parties can be found.
“Registration will allow those that violate the registration requirement to be identified and then City can reach out to them to get them to stop if they’re in the wrong zone,” Jones said.
Pruski said the City needs to regulate and police short term rentals closer, saying this new fee is a step towards that.
“If I bought that house and I lived there, I wouldn’t want neighbors coming in every other weekend, versus here, every weekend, it’s somebody different,” Pruski said.
Short term rental owners have a 30 day grace period according to McGinn. After that they will be charged $500 if they did not register.
He said the City is requiring other STRs to register in July and phase 2 of their plan will focus on evaluating land use and zoning that might be appropriate for STRs.
