UPDATE

The Current vote on the short term ordinance of August 22nd is getting postponed until the September 5th council meeting. Mark your Calendars

We will be at the August 22nd meeting at :430pm to share information and speak to the press that we have already called to cover the meeting. All are welcome to come and share.

Our Current Plan of Action
-Use our legal fund to begin to compose a new ordinance proposal that makes sense and represents the entire community. We will be posting this new draft ordinance as soon as we have a working draft. All are welcome to contact us about input or ideas on this issue. Please make sure to follow us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/LafayetteTLA   for the most up to date conversations and postings. 
-Please donate to the legal fund to help us in this matter as it will be our best option to counter what is happening and take control of the situation so that we can steer the ship instead of constantly having to react to the proposals of the council. Every dollar helps and is the best way to contribute to defending our rights and protecting our industry.   Donate at www.lafayettetla.org  (link at the top of the page "CONTRIBUTE")
- we will be attending the council meeting on august 22nd to speak at the "open topic" discussion at the end
                                           Topics we will be discussing
Lafayette STR Alliance Positions

• We are okay with regulation, but we favor a measured approach: a basic permitting system with reasonable restrictions. 

• We are against a ban in RS-1 zones (75% of the city). We think it’s best to gather data before making a decision that will negatively effect tourism, personal property rights, the real estate market and the local economy.

• RS-1 in Lafayette is not an exclusive, business-free zone. RS-1 encompasses many neighborhoods containing home businesses, apartments, and rentals. If residents desire a more restrictive neighborhood, Lafayette contains many gated communities or ones with strong HOAs.

• The basic permit requirements and other restrictions proposed but the City Council would be some of the strictest in the state. Adding a ban on top of them would be an unnecessary and costly mistake that other cities like Baton Rouge have avoided.

• We do not think the the council has done their due diligence in hearing from all stakeholders and making this decision a public process. We do not think they have properly considered the consequences of an RS-1 ban on top of new, strict restrictions.

• The city and police department have very little STR-related data. A permitting system will tell us how many operational listings Lafayette has and where they are located. We can then match police data with addresses.

• A ban in RS-1 will drive STRs to other zones like RM-1, exasperating density issues. STRs co-exist best in neighborhoods when spread throughout, not compressed into smaller areas.

• We are one of only two Louisiana cities with culture-based tourism. STR are an important component of visitor lodging all year round but even more so in high volume months like April and October when many festivals and events take place. It’s an extremely risky gamble to upset this market.

• Asking homeowners to “just sell their property and buy something else” is a huge overstep of government authority on personal property rights.

What we’re asking:
• We ask that the council endorse a committee of community leaders to study the issue. They most recently did this with the Protect the City Committee. This committee would illicit reports from stakeholders that would be released publicly and make a final recommendation to the council.

• We further believe that any final decision should be made by the next council. Making a rushed decision now that the next council will have to clean-up makes no sense for our community. It’s best to get it right.