City rejects visitors, says they cannot stay in Airbnb houses if hosts not live there
Refugees from Atlanta, Scott and Melissa Mainwaring of Chattanooga are shocked that city council rejects their plea to have Airbnb in a house bought for investment income in Highland Park. (Photo David Tulis) A young woman is increasingly enchanted by Chattanooga, thanks to her stays at Airbnb homes, and moves here with her husband to […]
Council chokes residents’ financial windpipes 6 more months, keeps Airbnb ban
Rebecca Little is fighting for the right to run Airbnb. Here she is in city court after being dunned by Mayor Andy Berke’s economic development people on accusations that she is involved in economic development. (Photo David Tulis) City council members met with mayoral staffer Donna Williams Tuesday and will do nothing to overturn their […]
Council passes petition for Airbnb despite fight by 2 neighbors
Tim Mahla, left, shakes hands with his dad, Walt, as John Anderson, an attorney, listens after a petition for Airbnb passes city council Tuesday. (Photo David Tulis) A family with a high-end house in North Shore won approval for an Airbnb use from city council Tuesday despite opposition from 2 neighbors who cited a litany […]
By dismissing 3 Airbnb cases, city holds up illegal rule
This is the house at 3610 Ansel Circle in Hixson from which Amanda Cobb, a single mom, hopes to derive financial sustenance — if only Chattanooga city government would not be illegally banning her private activity. (Photo Google Maps) The city attorney’s office on Thursday let slip three civil defendants who had offended the city’s […]
City OKs woman’s Airbnb despite plea to avoid neighborhood change
The owner of this modest house in Chattanooga, right, wins city council OK for a short-term vacation rental after a neighbor, also a landlord, objected. (Photo Google Maps) Neighborhood conflict flashes Tuesday night at city council as a petitioner seeks approval for an Airbnb while a young entrepreneurial neighbor objects to what he warns is […]
Peterson swims upstream, rejects city ban on Airbnb prosperity
Brian Peterson of Chattanooga and his wife, Laura, intend to prosper by having private guests stay on their property through the self-regulating system of Airbnb, a prosperity platform for guests and hosts alike. (Photo Brian Peterson) This house at 201 Thornton Ave. in Chattanooga is available to visitors from around the world, bringing private earnings […]
Airbnb ordinance open to legal challenge, violates constitution on 3 counts
Many owners of houses like this one in East Ridge are being told they may not use the Internet to bring paying visitors to their dwellings. (Photo Zillow) Another Southeast Tennessee municipality is making war on the Internet, trying to raise a Beijing wall to keep out wealth that flows into town via short-term vacation […]
City slow to enforce misshapen Airbnb ban
City government’s appointee for economic development has been tasked with blockading economic development on the Internet. (Photo LinkedIn) It may be good that Chattanooga city government is bureaucratically slow in getting into gear its surveillance of the short-term vacation rental market. Donna Williams of the mayor’s economic and community development office has the unfortunate duty […]
AirBnB ordinance takes effect, illegal on yet new grounds
Donna Williams is charged with enforcing city council’s AirBnB ordinance, an illegal intrusion upon the city’s thriving “Gig City” Internet economy. (Photo LinkedIn) Taking effect this week in Chattanooga is city government’s so-called short-term vacation rental ordinance, one that is illegal on several grounds — including a new one that comes into view on a […]
Basis for overturning city’s illegal ban on AirBnB, Internet economy
David Tulis explains the basic legal principles of legal and constitutional liberty in Tennessee that are a defense for any homeowner in Chattanooga who intends to rent his house through online short-term vacation rental portals such as AirBnB. The ordinance is unconstitutional on several grounds and should be overturned by an appeal out of city court […]