About

Cville STR Advocates is a growing group of Charlottesville residents involved in the local short-term rental (STR) and homestay community. We include individuals with a range of perspectives—some who initially opposed STRs but have since gained a better understanding of how they function within our community.

We were not given a meaningful opportunity to participate in the discussion about the current and new regulations. We were presented with a proposal at a public meeting that most of the people this affects did not know about. We are demanding that the City pause further action and allow for broader, more inclusive engagement that seeks input on both the current regulations and proposed new regulations before any decisions are made.

Our members include families who rely on STR income to pay their mortgages, homeowners building ADUs for aging parents, caregivers earning flexible income while raising young children, and small local developers rehabilitating older properties and adding missing middle housing to the city. We are the people directly affected by these regulations, and we deserve a seat at the table.

We share the community's goals: we want more housing, we want affordable housing, and we want to protect neighborhood character. But we believe the current process is flawed, the data is insufficient, and the proposed regulations are disconnected from the financial realities facing local families.