City and County Council Considers Short-Term Rental Ordinance

INDIANAPOLIS — A day after a man was shot and seriously injured outside a party at a short-term rental home in Fountain Square, the City-County Council introduced an ordinance Monday night to crack down on owners of properties where they don’t live but rent for a quick nightly payment.

“Nobody wants to do anything about this 24-hour nightclub next door,” said Theo Austin, a neighbor in the 1500 block of Lexington Avenue who woke up to the sound of gunfire Sunday morning. “On the weekends, from what I’ve seen, it’s mostly young people partying.”

Residents told FOX59/CBS4 that the modern, two-story, block-like home is frequently rented to weekend groups who fill the streets with cars, the front lawns with debris and the night air with gunfire.

“People have urinated in our yard and driveway. Someone passed out throwing up in the driveway here,” Austin said, standing in front of a bullet hole in another neighbor’s garage wall. “For some reason, they can’t contain these parties in the house. The backyard is full. The front yard is full and the fire is spilling into the neighbors’ yards.”

The Council will present and refer to the Committee Proposition 205 of the Indianapolis Short-Term Rental Permit Program Ordinance.

The ordinance, if passed, would require owners of such short-term rentals to obtain an annual permit, open their properties to fire and life safety inspections, submit marketing and advertising plans and maintain occupancy rates.

The goal is to “strike an appropriate balance between the interests of city residents, business owners, visitors to the community and property owners wishing to engage in short-term rental of housing (to) allow owners to benefit from additional income.”

Mobile homes and non-permanent structures would not be allowed for short-term rentals.

Sunday’s shooting was just the latest incident related to short-term rentals in Indianapolis and the metro area.

Last month, a teenager was shot and killed outside a party he wasn’t invited to in the 2600 block of Carrollton Avenue.

Two other people were injured.

In March, a man was murdered outside a Fishers home that neighbors had complained was a short-term rental.

This case remains unsolved.

Carmel police are investigating a medical emergency that affected multiple people at a short-term rental over the weekend.

Theo Austin is originally from Anaheim, California, but spends his summers with his children in Indianapolis, where violence and loud parties disrupt his refuge.

“I would say from what we’ve seen out there, it’s a lot worse,” Austin said. “Thankfully, we don’t allow neighborhoods to be taken over by short-term rentals. I wish it were the same here.”