Perry Council debate on short term rentals continue

PERRY, Ga. — The long-standing short term rental debate continued at this week’s Perry Council meeting. Many members of the community attended and spoke for and against the issue once again.

Special exception requests were made on multiple short-term rental properties Tuesday evening. The request for a property on Keith Dr. were to allow up to 12 guests at any given time. Other applicants requested up to nine guests to be allowed on the property at 1100 Kenwood Dr. Neighbors living in these areas voiced their concerns, one of them being worried about the rentals becoming party houses.

Elcia Holmes, one of the applicants, assured mayor and council that majority of her clientele are business professionals and won’t cause a disturbance to the neighborhood. She also said that she introduced herself to residents living around the property and exchanged contact information so that in case they have a problem, they can contact her directly. To further ensure there is no disturbance in the area, Holmes said she will not allow parties on this property, and will do screenings on every person who wants to rent the home.

Holmes wants the community to embrace short-term rentals.

“At the end of the day, the world is not the same, America is not the same, Perry is not the same. Everything evolves constantly and there’s new development and new things,” said Holmes.

However, some citizens spoke against this specific short-term rental. Perry resident Lisa Melvin said that Holmes has used the short-term rental before and there were parties every weekend. The citizen’s concern was that not everyone who rents the home are professionals. She wants to make sure that all the tenants are under control.

Another Perry resident, Elizabeth Baker, didn’t necessarily speak against any particular property, but the issue of short-term rentals as a whole. Baker is concerned about them being in residential areas, and the rental cluster bothers her.

Another citizen spoke up about a concern that hasn’t been mentioned prior. J.W. Warren said to the mayor and council that his only concern is there are currently no guidelines or regulations on short-term rentals. Mayor Walker spoke to Warren and told him there has been a moratorium in place, and assured him that Community Development Director Bryan Wood and his organization are working on a set of guidelines.

Continuing on this discussion, the second applicant, Andy Acosta, spoke to mayor and council once again. Like Holmes, he said most of his clientele are business professionals, travelers or people visiting their families. He assured mayor and council once again that he does a screening process and background checks on all tenants. To acknowledge the concerns of loud noise, he said he has noise monitors inside and outside all his properties and ensures privacy to his guests. He said he gives all his guests three warnings and after the third, he contacts authorities to remove them from the property.

“In the two years we’ve been in operation since we’ve implemented these screen processes and since we’ve implemented these devices, we’ve had zero bad experiences,” said Acosta.

Both Holmes and Acosta said that Perry is a growing community gaining more visitors, and they want to be a part of its growth.

The final decision the mayor and council made that evening was to unanimously deny Holmes’ request to allow 12 guests into the home on Keith Dr. The next decision was a little more divided: Acosta’s request was approved by a four to one vote. Councilman Darryl Albritton was the only one who voted to deny the request.

Also on the agenda: The annual Perry Fireworks event was discussed in the work session and the pre-council meeting. As a reminder, Perry Chamber of Commerce refused to continue organizing the annual fireworks this year at the fairgrounds.

According to Assistant City Manager Robert Smith, there will be no fireworks due to safety concerns, and concerns of the city’s historical assets, but mayor and council approved that there will be a city event that will take place in Downtown on July 2.

Chief Lee Parker also reminded mayor and council that this Sunday, May 7, President Joe Biden has ordered all flags to be at half staff to honor the 79 firefighters who passed away in the line of duty in 2022.

Mayor Walker reminded everyone that the next council meeting will be on May 16 at 6 p.m. and invited the public to join. After the regular reminders, the meeting was adjourned.

For the meetings agenda and supporting documents, visit https://perry-ga.gov/escribe-agendas-minutes.

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