Family says short-term rental fight cost them a nearly $1 million home sale

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. (WKYT) - An Anderson County family says hostility toward short-term rentals cost them an almost $1 million home sale and helped fuel a countywide pause on rental permits.

Angel Yamraj said she and her husband built their five-bedroom home on several acres in one of Lawrenceburg’s prominent neighborhoods. The property includes a pool and basketball court.

When the family decided to sell last summer, Yamraj said the offers they received came from buyers who wanted to use the home as a short-term rental.

“It was just like, no families, no families,” Yamraj said. “And then finally, this past December, a buyer from California came in and he wanted to purchase for a short-term rental also, but he eventually wanted to make it his residence.”

Anyone who wants to operate a short-term rental in Anderson County must apply for a permit. Yamraj said her buyer applied for one right away.

Yamraj said she believed the sale was certain because short-term rental permits had not been denied in Lawrenceburg.

“Oh, 100%, because there had been no denials in Lawrenceburg for short-term rentals,” Yamraj said. “So it was like, it’s 100%. Why? You know, they have never denied one. Why would they deny ours?”

Robbie Morgan, director of Lawrenceburg Anderson County Tourism, said counties have to weigh economic development against nuisance concerns.

“I think in that case, they successfully argued that if you can hold 20 people, that’s 20 cars, or that’s 10 cars, that’s a lot of extra traffic and parking,” Morgan said. “So it’s just a matter of case by case, they take that on a case-by-case basis.”

The county’s Board of Zoning Adjustments voted unanimously to observe the fiscal court’s 60-day stay on short-term rental permits on the same day Yamraj’s buyer was hoping to receive a permit.

Morgan said she believes Anderson County supports short-term rentals, but that county leaders must decide how many to allow and where to allow them.

“I think there is an inflection point coming where you have to decide how many are you in support of? And where? And in what neighborhoods do you want short-term rentals?, explains Morgan.

Morgan said there are 97 short-term rentals throughout Anderson County. She said Yamraj’s buyers were not the first to be denied.

Yamraj said her buyer backed out after the permit issue. Her furniture is out of the home, and the property remains for sale.

If another buyer wants to use the home as a short-term rental, they will have to wait until the county’s moratorium ends in July.

“I really just want, you know, my message to be that the regulations that need to be set forth need to be really considered and not just be put out there thinking of a certain class of people. They need to be all classes,” Yamraj said. “You have to support all, and you have to do it constructively and with consideration of all neighborhoods, not just because you live in a prominent neighborhood.”