NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The City of New Orleans received nearly 2,000 applications for residential short-term rental permits during a two-week window in July. Some were denied, and some secured a bingo ball in the lottery cage.
Whichever bingo ball dropped first determined the winner of the residential short-term rental permit on their block square.
Some STR owners patiently waited Monday to see if they won the lottery.
“We’re very respectful to our neighbors,” Elisa Cool-Murphy, who owns a short-term rental in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood, said. “We often have hosted their friends and family, and we just really enjoy introducing people to New Orleans and helping them understand and appreciate this awesome place that live in.”
However, some, like Arséne DeLay, who live in the Tremé neighborhood where they say it’s a revolving door of disorderly tenants don’t believe the lottery was aimed to help them.
“I mean, what I would love to see is those houses go up for sale or at least rented to people who live here, something affordable,” DeLay said.
A second-place winner was also announced. That person will have a chance if the first-place winner doesn’t pay for their license, which costs $600, in five days.
“So, if we’re not in first place, I do plan on taking the necessary to become an exception,” Cool-Murphy explained.
Following the lottery process, STR officials say all eligible applicants will receive an application form if they wish to start the special exemption process.
The applicant will then have to initiate a Neighborhood Participation Program meeting for neighbors selected by the City Planning Commission. From there, CPC staff will write a report recommending either approval or denial.
The decision will then be in the hands of the city council, who will likely hear from those in the neighborhood.
“That is not conducive to the ecosystem that was here and that can be here,” DeLay said.
The next application period for those who did not secure a permit for their block square will be Sept. 1 if the block square reopens.
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