Police were there just 90 minutes before the shooting started. At the party on Pittsburgh’s North Side where more than 200 people were gathered in an Airbnb rental, it was crowded and loud, witnesses said.
After the Easter morning shooting, Pittsburgh City Council members moved to try to rein in short-term rental properties like the one in East Allegheny.
The legislation, which will be introduced Tuesday, would require anyone operating an Airbnb or similar short-term rental unit to get a license from the city’s Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections. They will need to provide contact information where officials can get in touch with them if issues arise at the rental property, along with other information like the maximum number of guests permitted for each short-term rental.
Licenses would have to be renewed annually.
Property owners also would need to keep a log of guests who enter the property — including their names, addresses and phone numbers — which they would have to provide to city code enforcement officers, if they requested it.
“Currently, short-term rental properties aren’t regulated,” said Councilman Bobby Wilson, who represents the area where the shooting took place. “This provides us an avenue for us to require a license to operate one.”
Wilson is sponsoring the legislation with Councilwomen Theresa Kail-Smith and Deb Gross.
Source: More details emerge in Pittsburgh party shooting
