CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi City Council made decisions this week that could affect residents, from a potential ban on short-term rentals to a possible new water project.
After many residents voiced concerns about rowdy behavior, loud noise, and other issues at short-term rentals in Corpus Christi, the city looked for answers.
"The conversion of these homes into short-term rentals has literally ruined our neighborhood," one resident said.
"Both of my dogs up 10 o'clock at night barking, 11 o'clock at night barking, 12 o'clock at night barking," another resident said.
Staff came to the City Council on Tuesday with new rules for short-term rentals, including noise requirements, vehicle restrictions, and monitoring how many people can stay in a short-term rental.
But the original problem remained: If the city couldn't enforce the old rules, would it be able to enforce the new ones?
"There's no way we can enforce the rules. The ordinance that they're talking about it's just not going to happen," At-Large Councilmember Carolyn Vaughn said.
That's why Vaughn made a motion to ban short-term rentals in single-family neighborhoods. They would still be allowed in apartments or condos, but not in neighborhoods with standalone homes.
The motion passed unanimously, with Councilmember Sylvia Campos abstaining.
When I asked Vaughn whether the move was an attack on tourism and how it could affect area businesses, she defended the decision.
"And I think there's an area you can have them because it's good for tourism, but not in the middle of a neighborhood in the middle of a residential area. Would you want them in your neighborhood? No, you wouldn't," Vaughn said.
"We are going to ruin our city by having these short-term rentals in single-family neighborhoods," Vaughn said.
In other council business, the Seven Seas Water Group came with a potentially new water project for Corpus Christi.
"It's a plant located at the Chapman Ranch," Corpus Christi Water COO Nick Winkelmann said.
A brackish desalination plant, which draws water from the ground, would yield 10 million gallons of water a day. It would be a take-and-pay contract, which means the city buys the water from Seven Seas. The city would not own the project or its water.
City Manager Peter Zanoni told me that before staff makes a recommendation on the project, they need more information.
"Things like pricing per thousand gallons, we don't have that. We need an understanding on power cost, on an operating basis and construction basis. We need a very robust hydrogeologic report, which we don't have right now," Zanoni said.
The council will reconvene next Tuesday, November 17th.
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