A City Council committee took significant steps on Wednesday to regulate the growing vacation rental industry in Chicago, which has reportedly transformed areas in some wards into hotspots for parties and other disruptions.
The Committee on License and Consumer Protection approved an ordinance proposed by Alderman Anthony Napolitano (41st), designed to empower local alderpeople to combat the escalating issues associated with vacation rentals such as Airbnb and Vrbo.
Under current law, residents can petition to ban these short-term rentals in their neighborhoods. However, the process requires a challenging threshold—25% of registered voters in a precinct must sign the petition to initiate a ban.
If the ordinance, known as Napolitano’s amendment, is adopted by the full City Council, the authority to ban new vacation rentals in specific precincts would be shifted to individual aldermen. They would only need to establish a local ban, shifting the responsibility for collecting signatures—from 25% to 10% —onto rental companies to challenge the ban.
Napolitano’s ward has become appealing to vacation rentals due to its proximity to O’Hare Airport. He highlighted the rising violence linked with these rentals, detailing incidents of stabbings, shootings, and other community disturbances associated with weekend raves.
“The next day, the party is gone. What we’re told to do is to call 911. Now the industry’s problem becomes a police problem, and unfortunately … our police have little to no powers. When they find out that [the] location is a legal short-term rental, the officers leave,” stated Napolitano, who has prior experience as a Chicago police officer.
The proposed ordinance would allow existing vacation rentals to continue operating. Those currently listed on platforms like Vrbo and Airbnb would be exempt, as they would be grandfathered in, even if a local alderperson decided to impose a ban on new rentals within a precinct.
“It is not a blanket ordinance that goes over every ward. Precincts will not close automatically. They need to be closed individually or not at all. … If you don’t have a problem, this doesn’t affect you at all. If you do, it gives you the power to confront it,” Napolitano explained during the committee meeting.
Airbnb’s Chicago Policy Manager, Jonathan Buckner, criticized the ordinance as an overreach and an infringement on the constitutional property rights of Chicagoans. He warned that it harkens back to the city’s troubling history with “Restricted Residential Zones,” which once limited who could own homes and visit certain neighborhoods.
Moreover, Buckner asserted that the amendment could destabilize crucial tax revenues derived from short-term rentals that the city depends on for essential programs like homelessness prevention and domestic violence aid.
Chicago levies a 6% tax on short-term rentals, contributing a portion of this revenue to combat homelessness and support victims of domestic violence. According to Airbnb, the new regulations could potentially slash funding by up to $10 million for these vital initiatives.
Alderman Matt O’Shea (19th) described the amendment’s potential impact, noting, “This helps families—particularly women and children in horrible situations—get out. How are we going to replace that?” He highlighted a recent incident in his ward involving a large post-prom party at a vacation rental that was resolved quickly through collaboration.
O’Shea proposed that a more constructive relationship with short-term rentals could lead to swifter resolutions of issues rather than imposing sweeping bans.
Concerns about the ordinance stretch beyond O’Shea. Alderman Bill Conway (34th) expressed that granting the power to ban new vacation rentals appears to be overly broad and may infringe upon property rights.
Alderman Silvana Tabares (23rd), who represents an area near Midway Airport popular with vacation rental investors, shared similar concerns. She reported an increase in calls for service related to short-term rentals, citing various disturbances including public urination, drug use, and noise complaints.
Tabares also mentioned that some rentals have been used for gatherings linked to criminal activity. “It’s taken years of working with City Hall to try to address these issues because the law is on the side of the property owner—not the residents who actually live on the block. The deck is stacked,” she stated.
The debate over regulating the vacation rental industry in Chicago is set to intensify as the City Council prepares for a final vote on the ordinance next week.
image source from：https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2025/06/11/city-council-committee-proposed-ban-new-vacation-rentals-airbnb
