Regular Airbnb parties have Richmond Heights residents on edge

RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio — About a dozen residents who live on and in the vicinity of Stevens Boulevard attended Tuesday’s (June 27) City Council meeting to complain about homes in their neighborhood being turned into Airbnb homes where loud parties are held regularly on weekends.

The online Airbnb service allows property owners to rent out their homes to travelers looking for a place to stay. In the case of the Richmond Heights Airbnb homes, residents say they are vacant during the week, then are used for large parties attended by people who are, sometimes, from out of state.

“It’s really a safety thing,” said one Stevens Boulevard woman, who told council that during a party held last weekend a stranger from the nearby party knocked on her door.

Richmond Heights does not now have legislation regulating Airbnb properties, but Mayor Kim Thomas and Council President Bobby Jordan said work would begin immediately to form such legislation.

Stevens Boulevard resident Brian Turner told council that Airbnb residences “are popping up” on and around his street, a lengthy thoroughfare connected to Cary Jay Boulevard, which is located off Highland Road.

“One popped up (on Stevens) two months ago,” Turner said. “They gave a party two weeks ago. Trash everywhere, noise, all that. There’s another one on Euclid-Chagrin (Parkway, which intersects Stevens).”

Turner said the Euclid-Chagrin Airbnbn has been in existence for 10 of the 22 years he has lived in the neighborhood.

“I don’t understand how they’re regulated. They just pop up. I didn’t move to Richmond Heights to live next door to an Airbnb.”

Turner said some of his neighbors are considering moving out of the city because of the Airbnb homes. “I don’t want to trade my neighbors for an Airbnb,” he said. A city inspector was made aware of the Airbnb near Turner a year ago, some residents told council, but nothing was done to curb the parties.

Because there is now no regulation concerning Airbnb homes, it is not known how many there are in the city. Residents in the Stevens Boulevard area believe there are three or four near them.

“They’re probably going to have a party there this weekend,” Turner said. “We can call the police, but that’s too late. I mean, imagine working every week for five days and then you get home on the weekend and you want to relax and then there’s a party next door (with) people you don’t know.”

Neighborhood residents said that, before the parties began, they cherished the neighborhood for its quiet.

Another resident said the partygoers are mostly young people, while yet another male resident said, ”They had a shindig this (past) weekend, and I counted 17 cars — two from Maryland, three from Virginia.

“We don’t know these people,” he said. “They can rape, kill, murder, and they’re gone. In that area, we have a lot of elderly, so safety is a big concern. And the music (from speakers pointed toward a neighbor’s house) is loud.”

A man who lives next door to a Euclid-Chagrin Parkway home where parties are regularly held said, ”Every weekend, different people, multiple cars. The house, during the week, looks abandoned. The grass will turn into hay. The fence in the back yard has fallen. They’ve got a mosquito farm because they’ve got a pool that’s abandoned, filled with water.”

Interim police chief Calvin Williams texted officers during the meeting and was told that an officer reported a party on Stevens last week to Airbnb, who Williams said will take homes off their rental list if there are enough reports about disruptive or illegal activities taking place. He said that Airbnb contracts limit the size of parties to a specific number of people.

“It’s an internet-based business that doesn’t come through any governmental entity until a complaint happens,” Williams told the residents. “Now we are aware of that complaint and we will do our part as far as enforcement and things like that.”

When residents again mentioned that a complaint with a city inspector was made last year without action being taken, Council President Bobby Jordan said, ”I can guarantee you something’s going to be done this time. Because I didn’t hear it last year, but I hear it now.

“I’m telling you, man to man, that we’re going to do something about it this year. I’m going to talk to the chief (Williams), our legal department and our mayor and we’re going to come up with a plan because I understand you are my neighbor.”

Law Director Todd Hunt said legislation can be drawn up to prohibit Airbnb homes from operating in the city.

Richmond Heights signs on to Cleveland water line agreement

After discussing the topic in May, council voted 6-0 Tuesday (Ward 1 Councilwoman Dr. Erron Bell was not present) to enter the Cleveland Water Suburban Water Main Renewal Program. Established in 2007, the program will have the city turn over ownership of its water line infrastructure to Cleveland Water. In exchange, Cleveland Water will maintain and replace damaged water lines at no cost to Richmond Heights.

Richmond Heights joins 40 other area communities in joining what is also referred to as a “no-poaching agreement,” as the city must also agree not to lure businesses from Cleveland. If Richmond Heights does lure a business from Cleveland, it must share a percentage of income tax derived from that business. Richmond Heights further agrees to remain a member community for 20 years.

While, in the past, Richmond Heights may not have joined because it considered its water lines an asset, Thomas said, “Our water lines are not an asset, they’re a liability.” She residents have endured a cost brought on by the many water line breaks that have occurred in the city, particularly in the past year on Highland Road, where large breaks also affect neighboring cities who get water from those main lines.

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