Council Leader Says Providence Needs to Strengthen Elorza's Airbnb and Short-Term Rental Ordinance

Council Leader Says Providence Needs to Strengthen Elorza's Airbnb and Short-Term Rental Ordinance

Providence City Council Majority Leader Jo-Ann Ryan says the Airbnb and short term-rental ordinance passed in 2019 at the request of Mayor Jorge Elorza’s administration lacks tracking and penalties and needs to be strengthened.

"[Regulating short-term rentals] was brought to my attention by the administration in 2019. This was Bob Azar and the Mayor’s staff who wanted the ordinance; we accommodated them by passing it. It made sense, and we assumed they would take the appropriate steps for the policies," said Ryan.

The ordinance took effect in 2020, but has had little impact.

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Ryan's comments come following a GoLocal investigation into a series of incidents in Providence in which individuals with known gang ties rented short-term rentals via Airbnb and their activities resulted in multiple arrests. 

In the past year, there have been three violent episodes on Providence's East Side.

There was a shooting on 5th Street in the Summit section of the East Side last year tied to the rental of an Airbnb.  It is an area dominated by young families near Miriam Hospital. 

Then there were the following incidents. 

February of 2021 on George Street, Gang Members: According to Providence police, authorities were informed that Reynolds Youboty, a known member of the “Bucket West” gang, was attending the party, while in possession of a semi-automatic firearm. Investigators in the Violent Crimes Task Force had been conducting a months-long firearms investigation related to Youboty. The Airbnb party was held at 19 George Street, a house built in 1880 that is now comprised of four condo units. The assessed value by the city of the units is over $1.1 million.  George Street is one of the most exclusive East Side locations.  Airbnb shows one rental at the location, with a cost per night ranging between $89 and $210.

Shortly after 11 PM on Friday, police pulled onto George Street from Benefit Street and observed Youboty standing in the street.  Police reported that Youboty “immediately gripped a weighted object in his right sweatpants pocket and turned away from police and began walking away.”   Police exited the vehicle and attempted to detain Youboty as he was walking towards the sidewalk. Police gave loud verbal commands for Youboty to place his hands behind his back. 

Youboty “ignored police commands as he tensed both of his arms and attempted to turn his body towards police,” according to the police report. Investigators said they then wrestled Youboty to the ground at which point he "began to once again reach towards and grip the object on his right side." Police grabbed hold of Youboty's right hand and immediately recognized the item he was gripping was a firearm. Police reported that Youboty began to tug at the firearm attempting to pull it out of his pocket, with police able to grab the slide of the firearm in an attempt to hold it in place to prevent Youboty from removing it. Youboty "continuously fought his way up to his feet and was wrestled back down to the ground by these investigators multiple times," according to police.  During the ongoing struggle, police reported that there was a “large and contentious crowd” of approximately 8-10 subjects that were with Youboty and surrounded police who were "screaming at police and cheering Youboty on as he continued to fight with these investigators."

 

January of 2021 on Brown Street, Gang Members: Police broke up an unauthorized Airbnb party on the East Side of Providence this past Saturday night. 

According to police, they encountered nearly two dozen people partying at 216 Brown Street — located across from Brown Street Park and Playground behind Hope High School — as well as multiple weapons and a trail of blood.  Shortly after 10 PM Saturday, police responded to 216 Brown Street for a report of fraudulent use of a credit card. 

The owners of the property, Bruce Ackman and Lynn Iler, told police they had been contacted by a man who said his Airbnb account had been hacked and he had not rented the property.  According to police, the owners checked their security cameras, and saw the party taking place — as well individuals fighting — and went to go check on the property and have the guests removed.  Police reported that as they made their way into the house through the rear entrance, they observed a blood trail, leading from outside the house all the way up to the third floor.

Police said that nearly two dozen people were in the apartment drinking and smoking hookah; one of the homeowners said when they arrived said they found a gun in the bedroom. At this time, police said they called for backup, and ordered all of the guests into the living room.  Police reported that they patted down the subjects at the scene, and found a gun on Edwin Torres, age 24.  Police said they also found another gun in the sofa cushions next to Izayah Carides, age 23. All three guns had obliterated serial numbers, according to police. Police also reported locating four knives on the scene.  Torres is facing multiple firearms charges and wad held; Carides was released pending further investigation. Police ran background checks on all of the subjects; Artavvia Godett had an active bench warrant as well as Isaiah Ortiz, who has an Attorney General’s bench warrant. 

Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements told GoLocal last February, “It is a growing problem. We saw a lot of parties at Airbnbs especially in downtown and on Federal Hill before the pandemic. Now, the East Side is having some incidents.”

“I would very much recommend [the City Council] take a hard look at it and see what’s going on. Obviously, there needs to be penalties; there seems to be nonconformance and abuse — it’s not all good,” said Ryan in a phone interview on Tuesday.

 

Flawed Ordinance

The present ordinance requires that only owner-occupied properties are allowed for short-term rentals.  And, the ordinance requires that the property is registered with the city of Providence.

The recent violent episode that took place this past weekend involved a nearly million-dollar single-family home located at 216 Brown Street owned by a Cranston couple — tech-consultant Bruce Ackman and dermatologist Lynn Iler.

According to the city, the couple has not registered the property -- classified as a single family home -- for multiple short-term rental units. 

The Elorza administration has not created a database and cannot answer how many of the short-term rental properties have registered with the city.

“There should be a database -- for obvious reasons that we’re seeing. It’s a matter of public safety. Neighbors have a right to know the house next to them is a short-term rental — which also has tax implications. If you’re not living there, it’s an investment property,” said Ryan.

"There needs to be controls with Inspections — there should be a list and it should be managed. [The Department of Inspection and Standards] should be monitoring it on a regular basis. They should be going through the legwork to make sure [Airbnb properties] are taxed properly," added Ryan.

"We need to take another look at the ordinance. It’s been in place; if the administration has not appropriately established enforcement mechanisms and procedures, it’s a problem. We should absolutely take another look and see what makes more sense — and we should look at examples in other cities," added Ryan.