Pittsburgh councilman reworking legislation to register, regulate rentals
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — There's a renewed push to create a citywide rental registry program and Councilman Bobby Wilson says he's busy creating one that will cover both long-term and short-term rentals.
"People that live in a community, they want to know their neighbor and they want to know what's happening in their neighborhood," said Wilson, who represents District 1.
Wilson talked one-on-one with KDKA-TV's Meghan Schiller about why he asked for three months to redraft and reapproach the issue with updated legislation.
"We want to respond with a bill that will protect neighborhoods but also protect the people who rent the properties," he said.
It comes after two people died during an out-of-control party at a North Side Airbnb on Easter Sunday one year ago. The shooting claimed the lives of two young men and injured several others. Pittsburgh police continue to investigate, but no arrests have been made.
Wilson tells KDKA-TV he's pushing forward new legislation to register and regulate short-term rentals across the city after people questioned how and why that party could happen. But Wilson needs to also fix the existing decade-old registry for long-term rentals challenged in the courts.
"Some of the issues pertained around how much information was being collected or was the responsibility of the property owners," said Wilson. "We really should have a bill that just covers all rentals in one whether it's one night or two years."
That's why Wilson's asked city council to hit the pause button and give him just three months to make changes.
"And that's what we're currently doing, is to go back with the law department and to see what bill will withstand the test of time. We don't ever want to introduce a bill that we know is going to be immediately in the courts," he said.
He wants Pittsburghers -- either rental property owners or not -- to know this: "When we don't have a list of what's in our neighborhood and we don't know where these properties are it becomes an issue. People get uneasy when they only find out when there is a problem. We want to know beforehand."
Wilson anticipates the new legislation will be ready this summer.
In the meantime, he's met with detectives that are working on the case from that Easter shooting. He tells KDKA-TV he has full confidence in them, saying they're going to bring justice to the family and friends of those impacted by that shooting.
