Poll: Most Lake Ozark Realtors Say Vacation Rentals Should Be Legal, Won't Hurt Property Value

LAKE OZARK, Mo. — A poll of Lake area real estate professionals shows the vast majority think nightly vacation rentals should be legal in Lake Ozark.

Lake Ozark Mayor Dennis Newberry says he reached out to the Bagnell Dam Association of Realtors, one of the two realtor associations at the Lake of the Ozarks, asking them for their opinion on a variety of questions related to nightly vacation rentals in the City of Lake Ozark. Approximately 200 real estate professionals responded. The breakdown of their responses is republished in full, below.

Realtors were asked whether they had had a client that considered buying a property in the City of Lake Ozark, but who had decided not to, after learning of the restriction on nightly rentals. Eighty-two percent of respondents (165 people) said “Yes.”

Asked whether they thought property values would decline for owners near a home being used as a nightly rental, 71% (142 people) said “No.” Another 13% (26 people) voted “Other” and provided comments, 8 of whom stated they did not think property values would decrease (and some said they believed values would increase).

When asked whether the quality of residential neighborhoods would decline due to the lifting of nightly rental restrictions, 83% (165 people) of respondents said “No.”

And when asked whether they supported the City of Lake Ozark’s attempts to amend the city code and lift the ban on nightly rentals, 81% (161 people) voted “Yes.”

In the opportunity for comments, some realtors expressed outright support for the restoration of short-term rentals. Others were more nuanced, saying the issue should be left to HOAs to decide, or acknowledging the reality of “bad renters.” And some pushed back strongly against the legalization of short-term rentals.

The full results as well as respondents’ comments are at the end of this article.

READER POLL:

READER POLL

Should vacation rentals be legalized in Lake Ozark?

Property Rights & The Origin Of The Ban

Newberry, a real estate broker himself, told Lake Expo for him the issue is very much about private property rights. “Obviously as a real estate professional, I am a property rights advocate,” he said, “or I shouldn’t be in this industry.”

In reference to the claim made by some opponents of legalizing nightly rentals that Lake area was the “wild west” before the restriction was put in place, Newberry called it “ridiculous.”

“I do not recall a time ever, in the 30 years I’ve been here, that nightly rentals were ever problematic.” He added, “That ordinance did not come in because of that.”

Rather, Newberry said, the origin of the ordinance banning nightly rentals was more about protecting a few special interests. He says the ordinance was passed due to vested interests that a former city alderman had in protecting their own motel business. That alderman saw residential properties like the well-known Concrete House — a multi-home estate that sits just off Bagnell Dam Boulevard — as threats to their more traditional nightly rental business, Newberry explained.

“It was put in because one alderman wanted it done, and that alderman was able to make that happen,” he said.

‘A Tourist Vacation Destination’

Newberry added, “This isn’t about me or any specific board [of aldermen] member. This was brought up at a road committee meeting as a potential for additional revenue for the city of Lake Ozark. Once we dug into it and did some investigating we learned that would be a violation of the Hancock Amendment… but the topic is now on the table for P&Z to consider, with or without any positive impact for the city as far as tax revenue.”

Newberry spoke adamantly about the issue, calling the vacation industry “our identity.”

“To say we are a retirement community is disingenuous,” he said. “We’ve always been a tourist vacation destination… vacationers are an economic engine that drives the entire economy of Lake of the Ozarks.”

He said the City of Lake Ozark had done “some irresponsible things in the past,” calling this ordinance that banned vacation rentals “one of them.”

Newberry also cited legal concerns, acknowledging there are already homeowners in the city who rent their homes on a nightly basis in spite of the ordinance. “If [the nightly renters now in Lake Ozark] were to take us to court, or if we were take them to court, I believe it would cost us a lot of unnecessary taxpayer dollars, and I think we would not win,” he said.”

Regulating Rentals?

“It’s just not the municipal government’s role,” Newberry said of the prohibition on short-term rentals. He said such a prohibition is and should be in the jurisdiction of Home Owners’ Associations and Property Owners’ Associations. He points out some HOAs/POAs around the Lake successfully and legally restrict or prohibit short-term rentals, while others allow or even encourage them. “But we’re the only [city] in the Lake region that restricts it,” he noted, saying the city could instead pass ordinances restricting certain nuisances that may be at the core of some residents’ concerns about vacation rentals.

Newberry ended, “Our citizens want better roads, better sewer and water… but they seem to be lost on the concept that a free market will generate revenue by having people stay in nightly rental properties.”

Download PDF