Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes says a Gila County ordinance regulating short term rentals like Airbnb is on the right side of state law because it imposes regulations to protect public safety.
Mayes issued the opinion in response to state Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff), who in March wrote the county’s ordinance appeared to be in violation of a state law that bars counties from regulating short-term rentals except in specific circumstances, such as promoting public health and safety.
Rogers argued that parts of the ordinance, like requiring a short-term rental owner to display a map of the rental’s floor plan, are outside the scope of the law.
But in her opinion, Mayes wrote that displaying a floor plan — marked with emergency exit routes and fire extinguisher locations — is “directly related to ‘fire and building codes.’”
Gila County supervisors alluded to public safety when adopting the ordinance last December.
“The Gila County Board of Supervisors finds that it is necessary and appropriate to regulate vacation rentals and short-term rentals within the unincorporated areas of the county in order to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare, and preserve the residential character of neighborhoods, prevent nuisances, and ensure compliance with applicable laws and ordinances,” the ordinance states.
Republicans in the state Legislature have blocked efforts to regulate short-term rentals for years, despite concerns from cities like Payson, where some residents see the rentals as a nuisance for things like noise, trash and parking problems.
