Lynn Biederstadt | October 18, 2023

On the subject of short-term rentals

By: Lynn Biederstadt, Norfork 

The Norfork mayor’s comments on short-term rentals are disingenuous and misleading. The bill’s passage trashed an ordinance that had been supported by a majority of impacted residents and was enacted with total disregard to the rules of review. It was presented and passed without the citizens’ ability to comment. And no complaints?  Really? The mayor has a desk full of them–and a history of not enforcing them. Norfork has grown over the past 40 years without the “benefit” of STRs. The question is: Who benefits? Not the neighborhoods that are being turned into vacation rental ghost towns by the out-of-town investors who influenced the ordinance change.