Another Johnson County city is regulating short-term rentals like AirBnbs and Vrbos.
The Mission City Council last week unanimously approved a new rule imposing a $500 license fee on short-term rentals, as well as a separate nuisance party ordinance that applies citywide.
These new regulations follow similar actions taken in other Johnson County cities like Fairway, Merriam and Shawnee, all of which have adopted stricter rules for short-term rentals this year.
Prairie Village is also considering a proposal that what would essentially be an outright ban on short-term rentals in that city by limiting all rentals to a 30-day-stay minimum.
What does Mission’s short-term rental ordinance say?
Mission’s short-term rental ordinance, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, requires a management agent to live within 40 miles of the property.
Unlike other Johnson County short-term rental ordinances, Mission’s also includes a provision that caps the number of short-term rentals allowed at a specific property and limits the number of short-term rental licenses that can be issued to a single owner.
The ordinance outlines the following limitations on the number of short-term rentals per parcel based on the property’s zoning district:
- One short-term rental per property in single-family residential districts
- Two short-term rentals per property in two-family residential or downtown neighborhood districts
- Four short-term rentals per property in a number of multifamily districts, including two separate apartment districts and a mixed-use district.
What’s the nuisance party order about?
The nuisance party ordinance applies to the entire city.
It defines a nuisance party as one that has five or more people and that disturbs the peace in some way, including underage drinking, the use of marijuana or the discharge of firearms.
Some residents have previously said they feared the nuisance party ordinance could negatively impact gatherings such as Kansas City Chiefs watch parties or graduation celebrations.
Residents weigh in for and against rules
- Mission resident Kim Donaway, who has previously mentioned in public comment that she owns rental properties, said she disagrees with the $500 license fee.
- Donaway said she disagrees with “bad actors” who own and operate short-term rentals, but she asked the city council to pause a vote and discuss the ordinance more.
- Resident Joe Donaway, who is Kim’s adult son who lives in a separate Mission home, said he believes the ordinance as written will “only incentivize bad actors” and “punish smaller actors, smaller businesses.”
- Dale Wethered, another Mission resident, said he is concerned that the ordinance fails to place restrictions on the concentration, or density, of short-term rentals.
- Wethered said short-term rentals have impacted housing availability for lower-income communities, and he wanted to see some sort of density limits on these types of properties.
Council ultimately approved rules unanimously
- Councilmember Ben Chociej said that he shares some concerns about the ordinance lacking density restrictions and impacting homeowners who want to use short-term rentals as a means of passive income.
- Overall, though, Chociej said he believes there is a good balance in the ordinance and it addresses resident concerns about short-term rentals.
- Councilmember Mary Ryherd said she was glad to support both the short-term rental ordinance — one of the main issues she’s heard about from Ward 2 residents, she said — and the nuisance party ordinance.
- “I’m excited to vote this to help out those folks kind of feeling that burn of buying a house and not realizing it was going to be a short-term rental next to them, or someone was living there and then decided to make it a short-term rental,” Ryherd said.
- The city council unanimously approved both the nuisance party and short-term rental ordinances.
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