Fairway is trying to clamp down on unlicensed short-term rentals, even as the city expects a spike in property owners renting out homes during this summer’s World Cup.
City officials say they anticipate the number of Airbnbs and other short-term rentals to double or even triple during the month of the World Cup this summer.
But a new Kansas state law makes a Fairway city ordinance limiting such rentals temporarily unenforceable during the global soccer tournament.
So, last week, city officials took a new tack, approving much steeper penalties for unlicensed rentals as a means to regulate the properties.
“Because we can’t limit the number, this is to say, if you’re going to do it, we’re not going to stop you — but you do have to follow the rules,” City Administrator Nathan Nogelmeier told the city council earlier this month. “If you don’t follow the rules, then there is a penalty associated with that.”
Since 2024, Fairway has limited how many short-term rentals, like Airbnbs and VRBOs, can operate at a time by requiring a 1,000-foot buffer between them.
That was part of a broader move by northeastern Johnson County cities to restrict or even ban short-term rentals ahead of the World Cup, when an estimated 650,000 visitors from around the world are expected to come to the Kansas City area.
HB 2481, signed into law by Gov. Laura Kelly on April 9, however, prohibits Kansas cities from imposing certain restrictions on short-term rentals during the 2026 World Cup, specifically between May 15 and July 25.
In response, the Fairway City Council voted on April 13 to increase its daily penalty for all unlicensed rentals from $250-$500 a day to $500-$1,500 a day.
The new penalties go into effect on Tuesday and will remain in place even after the World Cup ends.
“I think it’s certainly something that we want to use as a deterrent for the World Cup, but also beyond that,” Nathan Nogelmeier said at the April 13 city council meeting. “When you look at what the standard rates are in Fairway for short-term rentals, the $250 to $500 a day is not really compelling in terms of making property owners register.”
One other city’s regulations are impacted
Several other Johnson County cities also have regulations on the books for short-term rentals — but some may not be impacted by HB 2481 as directly as Fairway.
HB 2481 prohibits cities from limiting the number of short-term rentals or long-term vacation properties from May 15 to July 25, but other regulations can still remain in effect.
In Merriam
Like Fairway, Merriam is also unable to enforce its 1,000-foot buffer zone during the 2026 World Cup this summer, said city spokesperson Ciera White.
White said any short-term rental license issued for properties within a buffer zone of an existing short-term rental will expire on July 26.
All of the other licensing requirements for short-term rentals Merriam has on the books will still be enforced during this time period, she said.
In Prairie Village and Leawood
Prairie Village and Leawood both effectively have bans on short-term rentals.
All rentals in both cities are required to book stays for a 30-day minimum, limiting the number of rentals in operation.
City Administrator Wes Jordan said Prairie Village is still looking at how HB 2481 might impact the city’s short-term rental regulations. There are plans to discuss the specifics at the first city council meeting in May, he said.
Beth Breitenstein, strategic communications director with the city of Leawood, told the Post that HB 2481 will not impact Leawood because the city’s regulations “do not limit as it is.”
In Leawood, an entire dwelling must be rented for a minimum of 30 days with a valid license.
In Mission and Roeland Park
In Mission, City Administrator Laura Smith told the Post last week that city staff believes there is no need to change its short-term rental regulations in order to comply with HB 2481.
Similarly, the city of Roeland Park is unaffected by HB 2481, said Assistant City Administrator Jennifer Jones-Lacy.
Roeland Park’s recently loosened its short-term rental regulations, Jones-Lacy said, and there are no limits on the number of such properties within the city.
“You do have to follow the rules”
In Fairway, the 1,000-foot buffer between short-term rentals is just one of the city’s rules governing how such properties can be rented out.
The city also included several other rules for short-term rentals, like prohibiting on-street parking and a three-night minimum stay requirement.
Nogelmeier told the city council last Monday that HB 2481 makes the city’s 1,000-foot buffer zone between short-term rentals unenforceable between May 15 and July 25.
Fairway, a landlocked suburb in the Kansas City metro, is not explicitly hosting any World Cup events, though, like in other northeast Johnson County cities, staff are expecting an uptick in visitors as a result of the international soccer tournament.
Nogelmeier said that currently, roughly a dozen or more short-term rental properties operate in Fairway. That number could double or even triple during the 2026 World Cup, he said.
Resident feedback makes it clear that there is little desire for short-term rentals in Fairway, though, Nogelmeier said.
The city plans to issue temporary short-term rental licenses to new applicants who fall within an existing 1,000-foot buffer, Nogelmeier said. Those temporary licenses will expire on July 26, 2026.
There appears to be no impact on existing short-term rental license holders.
Nogelmeier said the city does not plan to be “heavy-handed” with citations on unlicensed rentals. He said the city’s approach, like with other ordinances, is to work with individuals who violate city code before issuing citations.
A look at the penalties in Fairway
City staff originally proposed increasing the daily penalty for unlicensed rentals to range from $1,500 to $2,500, at the discretion of a municipal judge.
That is a significant increase over the current daily fee for unlicensed rentals, which ranges between $250 and $500. Nogelmeier noted that the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, recently increased its daily penalty fee to $5,000 for unlicensed rentals.
Councilmember Kelly-Ann Buszek, one of three councilmembers who cast dissenting votes against an ultimately victorious motion, preferred the ordinance and its penalty range as is, calling the $1,000 range proposed in the city’s agenda packet “extreme.”
“It seems to me it’s unnecessary, it’s (a) heavy-handed approach to deal with our citizens,” Buszek said, noting that some people may inadvertently violate the new city rule. “It appears to be a solution in search of a problem. We don’t know what issues will occur with the World Cup, we have no idea”
Councilmember Tanya Keys said she doesn’t want to limit residents who might want to rent out their home during the World Cup, but she also trusts them to seek out information from the city about how to do so properly.
Keys motioned to approve city staff’s proposed daily penalty fee range of $1,500 to $2,500.
That motion failed in a 2-5-1 vote. Councilmembers Joe Levin and Keys cast the affirming votes, and Councilmember Jim Hafner abstained. In a follow-up with the Post on Wednesday, Hafner said he needed more time to make a decision about the proposed penalty range, which he thought was too high.
Immediately after that, Councilmember Whitney Henley motioned to approve the changes with a daily penalty fee range of $500 to $1,500 for unlicensed rentals. That motion passed in a 5-3 vote.
Councilmembers Buszek, Emily Snyder and Jerry Williams cast the dissenting votes. Before casting dissenting votes, Snyder questioned how many unlicensed rentals the city encounters. Williams asked whether the increased penalty could be in effect temporarily to align with the World Cup.
Hafner told the Post on Wednesday that the range in the second motion was more reasonable, which is why he cast a “yes” vote.
Keep reading local government news: Chair Mike Kelly’s annual address emphasizes how World Cup could change JoCo
