By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Port Royal has decided to hit pause on short-term rentals and further apartment developments because they want to make sure that the infrastructure in place for the town can handle the explosive growth..
During the Port Royal Town Council meeting on April 10, council members unanimously voted to approve a moratorium on short-term rentals for seven months and multi-family developments for one year.
The multi-family developments and short-term rentals that have already been permitted or have begun the process will be allowed to continue, but any further submissions will be put on hold until after the town has a chance to assess what is in the best interest of Port Royal going forward.
“We are not changing an ordinance, we are not taking away short-term rentals,” Port Royal Mayor Kevin Phillips said about the decision.
He continued to say that there has been a 50% rise in short-term rentals in the past four years and there are more than 1,500 multi-family units that are currently being built in the town, and these moratoriums will allow the town to see how the new development has impacted schools, police, fire and other infrastructure.
Phillips, who spoke about the need for a temporary moratorium on apartments and short-term rentals when he ran for mayor in November 2023, said that overall, the feedback regarding the dual moratoriums has been positive.
Regarding short-term rentals, a task force of citizens will be assembled to review the short-term rental ordinance that was voted on four years ago to see if it is still pertinent today or if it needs to be modified.
“The dynamics have changed, and we believe it’s prudent to bring together a new group of citizens to review the previous ordinance to see if it still fits the needs of the community,” Phillips said.
The 7-month short term rental moratorium and the one year long multi-family development moratorium received a unanimous vote from council members at its first reading last week. The second reading for the proposal will take place in May.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
