New Short Term Rental Rules in San Antonio, TX

[Sherylyn Holden]

I posted awhile back about the new short term rental rules in San Antonio here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/530/topics/1200417-new-...

Wanted to share a brief update on my experience and some other helpful notes:

The city is getting serious about these rules. I had one short term rental that was granted a permit earlier this year and I have been operating it for months now as an STR. The city emailed me not too long ago informing me that there was some "system error" and they approved that permit by mistake. They even sent someone from the city to the house to tell us to stop operating it as a STR. Here is the email received

"An internal audit has been completed for STR permits and our records indicate that your STR permit was issued in error due to exceeding the maximum 12.5% blockface density. Upon further review, there is 1 active Type 2 STR permit on this blockface prior to your STR application submittal, but a system glitch did not capture it on the OneStopMap. Therefore, your request for a Type 2 STR exceeded the maximum 12.5% blockface density and the only way that staff can approve this request is for the Board of Adjustment (BOA) to grant a Special Exception for the rental.

Based on this information your STR permit has been cancelled. If you would like to continue to operate as a short term rental, you will need to submit a new STR application for this property and must go to the Board of Adjustment and be granted a special exception for staff to approve this request for a Type 2 STR Permit.

The Board of Adjustment consists of eleven (11) members; you will have to get a concurring vote from nine (9) out of eleven (11) members in order to be granted the special exception. The fee to submit an application is $600.00. Please note the fee is not refundable, even if the Board denies your application. You will need to compile a convincing case as to why the cities established maximum blockface density should be exceeded in this instance. Please note that if the Board does approve your request for a special exception, you will need to get a new Special Exception every three years when you renew your STR permit."

Needless to say this is no fun. I'm being required to pay another application fee and then $600 application fee to hopefully get this approved by the Board to allow me to continue running the STR that they approved 6+ months ago. 

All this to say they are getting serious about permitting so if you are planning to invest in San Antonio in the short term rental space, MAKE SURE to check that the property is eligible for a short term rental permit given the density limits above and have a Realtor experienced with the San Antonio permitting requirements and rules. 

If you have any questions let me know!