Key Takeaways

  • Polk County commissioners voted 3-2 to deny a zoning amendment allowing short-term rentals in the RE-5 district
  • Ten residents opposed the change at a public hearing while three, including the property owner seeking it, supported it
  • The Planning Board had already recommended denial 5-2 despite finding the amendment consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan

A small county in western North Carolina, near the South Carolina border and roughly 90 miles west of Charlotte, has rejected a zoning change that could have opened one of its most exclusive residential areas to short-term rentals.

Polk County commissioners voted 3-2 last week against the proposal, which centered on Hunting Country, an equestrian community near Tryon where the RE-5 district currently bars rentals of fewer than 90 days.

Ten residents spoke against the amendment during a 90-minute public hearing at the Bryant H. Womack Justice and Administration Building in Columbus, while three spoke in favor, according to The Tryon Daily Bulletin.

Property owner Shawn Keller pushed the amendment, arguing that vacation rentals are already permitted in three of the four zoning districts that make up the broader Hunting Country area and that RE-5 owners deserved the same option.

His wife, Alison, and fellow RE-5 owner Sandra Barker, who told commissioners she has run a vacation rental from her guest house for three years without a complaint, backed him at the hearing.

Planning and Economic Development Director Cathy Ruth told commissioners that RE-5 grew out of a grassroots push by Hunting Country residents more than a decade ago, who sought a very-low-density district with protections for the area’s rural character.

The Polk County Planning Board had already recommended denial on a 5-2 vote, even after finding the change consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan, because of opposition from neighboring residents.

Commissioner Jennifer Hargett was the lone board member to argue forcefully for the change, framing it as a property-rights question and suggesting opponents pursue a homeowners association instead of county government.

“It is unethical and immoral to bully and restrict the property rights of your neighbors through the power and force of the government,” Hargett said.

Commissioners David Moore and Myron Yoder took the opposite view, both pointing to the district’s origin as a case where residents themselves asked the county for the restrictions. Yoder noted that RE-5 property owners bought into the district knowing its rules going in.

Related: New Hampshire town steps up enforcement of short-term rental permit rules

Why the vote reshapes short-term rental zoning fights

The amendment would have applied to the entire RE-5 district, not just Keller’s property, since it was structured as a text change to the county’s zoning ordinance rather than a site-specific rezoning.

That distinction fed much of the opposition, since any approval would have opened short-term rental use to every RE-5 parcel in the area, not a single lot.

The final vote split 3-2, with Hargett and Commissioner Melton in favor and Yoder, Moore and Beiler against, keeping RE-5’s rental ban intact.

Commissioners gave no indication Monday of whether Keller or another RE-5 owner would bring the request back in a revised form, leaving the district’s rules as they were before the hearing began.

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