Chicago Proposes Giving Aldermen Power to Ban Airbnb

Chicago aldermen could gain sweeping new power over short-term rentals under an ordinance that would let them ban Airbnb and similar platforms on a precinct-by-precinct basis within their wards.

The measure, introduced by Alderman Anthony Napolitano, was approved by a committee this week, Crain’s reported. It would reverse the current opt-out system that requires residents to gather signatures from 25 percent of voters in a precinct to allow their alderman to introduce a ban.

If the ordinance passes a City Council vote next week, it would flip the process, letting aldermen initiate a ban unless 10 percent of voters petition to keep short-term rentals allowed.

Napolitano said the current signature-gathering rules have “no teeth” and that his proposal is meant to give council members tools to address problematic properties.

“If you don’t have a problem, this doesn’t affect you at all,” he told colleagues. “If you do have problem spots, it gives you the ability to attend to those problem spots.”

Alderman Marty Quinn said he supports the change, even after personally collecting 12,000 signatures over seven years to ban short-term rentals across the 13th ward. Precinct voters get only 90 days to collect signatures starting immediately at the time they file the paperwork to petition.

“How is that fair to taxpayers?” he said. “Not to mention how difficult it is to opt out with how many steps that you have to follow.”

Critics of Airbnb’s growth in cities have typically argued the platform fuels housing shortages and drives up rents by pulling units out of the long-term market, while also inviting noise and nuisance complaints in residential neighborhoods.

Airbnb Chicago policy manager Jonathan Buckner blasted the proposal, calling it an “unnecessary violation of Chicagoans’ constitutional property rights” that evokes the city’s past use of racially motivated zoning restrictions. The company also warned the move could disrupt tax revenue from short-term rentals, some of which funds homelessness and domestic violence services.

Those who voted against the measure cited fiscal concerns and the potential impact on residents who rent out homes or spare rooms for supplemental income.

The vote follows a separate ordinance passed last month requiring rental platforms to assign a dedicated point of contact for every licensed listing after complaints about absentee operators and limited enforcement mechanisms.

If approved, existing short-term rentals would be grandfathered in, but aldermen would gain near-total authority to block listings going forward.

— Judah Duke