I'm somewhat baffled! I bought a property & decided it was perfect for a STR. At the time, no ordinance was in place that prohibited my doing so. I set up VRBO acct & started renting it VERY successfully. City manager contacted me & said I should apply for a special use permit to make sure all my I's were dotted & T's crossed. So I applied. In the meantime, one of my neighbors is on the City council & got wind of it. He filed an official complaint against me "running a business" without a permit. Mind you, I'm not inside of a subdivision, have no deed restrictions that apply, I'm in an R-1 zoning area & I have 16 acres of private land that sits along a private lake that I own 1/2 of. Was breaking no laws & was issued a citation for what this neighbor claims was a "business". I don't live in this home but it's VERY popular from being on a Renovation Tv show. His claim was that because I had 5 cars in front of my house & people were photographed carrying fishing poles & a raft, that I must be breaking the law. Long story short, after 3 different council meetings, the city developed a new ordinance that covers STR's & voted it in this week. At the same meeting the council attempted to vote on my permit but it was a tie vote! So does that really mean I lost or does it provide for me another council meeting? The council member, who's my neighbor & made ridiculous accusations about me having a conspiracy with the city manager, wasn't allowed to vote because it was a conflict. The mayor voted for it as did 2 other members but it's in deadlock now! The city manger made a statement to the Tv & paper that without a permit, the new ordinance prohibits me from using my house as an STR (I do not live in this home) so they say I'm going to need to cancel my bookings & cant rent it out any longer!!?! I just can't believe how this is possible from so many angles. The only thing that effected the vote was the emotional blackmail that this mob of neighbors threw at the council & their threats to not vote them back into office. They stood only on the grounds that they didn't want for the neighborhood (which I'm not in) but my land is at the end of their street. The roughly 10 couples who are hostile towards me & the rental, thought it would make their taxes go up & they didn't want their quiet neighborhood commercialized. Really?? I'm charging $1200 per night for these VERY well traveled guests to stay. I would be paying taxes to city for these stays & the money they spend locally would make you choke! So now they added Improving your property values is a bad thing?? Any advise would be GREATLY appreciated!!