Short-term rentals in Richardson will soon have to be at least 500 feet apart and property owners will pay a higher annual fee to the city as Richardson plans to adopt new regulations.
Richardson City Council agreed on the new requirements at the July 27 meeting in response to data collected by city staff this summer. Council is set to officially approve the regulations Aug. 10.
The 500-foot distance means that STRs will have to be about seven houses apart, depending on house size.
Owners of short-term rental properties are required to register the property with the city and pay an annual fee, but some operate without registering. The regulations will apply to currently unregistered STRs and all future rental properties, while existing, registered STRs will not be impacted.
The big picture
Richardson began a 90-day prohibition on new short-term rental registrations at the end of May after residents voiced concerns about trash, parking, noise and safety issues caused by STRs in their neighborhoods.
Short-term rentals are residential properties that are rented either in whole or in part for a period of no more than 30 consecutive days, such as properties found on sites like Airbnb or Vrbo.
The temporary prohibition on new registrations allowed the city time to implement new software to collect data on registered and unregistered STRs in Richardson, determine if there are health, safety or density concerns, and to address issues with property owners and managers.
Lindsay Turman, director of community services, said the city identified 170 STRs in Richardson, of which 111 are registered and 59 are unregistered.
Based on the data collected by city staff, city attorney Joe Gorfida initially recommended adopting regulations requiring STRs to be at least 300 feet apart. Council agreed to raise the minimum distance to 500 feet. Gorfida also recommended that the city increase its annual STR registration fee from $100 to $300 to cover costs associated with administration of the program and software.
City Manager Don Magner said these regulations are defensible with minimal legal risk while still addressing density concerns.
“This is the most prudent path forward,” Magner said.
The approach
The prohibition and study aimed to identify whether STRs were “clustering” in certain areas, which Turman identified as the point at which the concentration of STRs begins to alter the “residential character” of an area.
Turman said 29 neighborhoods in Richardson have at least one STR, and six neighborhoods have more than 10.
Staff identified 20 locations with two or more STRs within 300 feet, which she said is roughly four houses apart. The majority of these are registered, but a few are not.
Some context
Council approved amendments in March to improve the city’s enforcement of STR regulations, but said further information from the study is needed to introduce additional regulations. The updates to the ordinance outlined offenses that city staff can enforce at STRs and expanded the grounds for the city to revoke registration permits.
Broad restrictions on short-term rentals are likely to be challenged in court, Gorfida said at a past council meeting.
Several cases concerning cities’ abilities to regulate STRs are set to be considered by county and state courts, which Gorfida said will hopefully provide clarity on future regulations. However, he said these decisions are not expected until June 2027.
To avoid legal risk, Gorfida recommended that the distance regulation should not apply to currently registered and operating properties. Council agreed that any currently operating, non-registered properties will be subject to the new requirement, as well as all new short-term rentals moving forward.
“What we’re trying to do is be as aggressive as possible while still being legally safe,” Mayor Amir Omar said.
By the numbers
Prior to the temporary prohibition on registrations, Turman said city staff utilized their old software to send out 66 initial notices to unregistered STRs. After a second round of notices, 47 properties had either registered with the city or removed their listing, and the city issued citations to the remaining 19 properties.
The city implemented its new tracking software in May, which Turman said has provided more accurate data and has identified additional STRs in the city.
Starting in July, staff utilized their new software to send additional notices to unregistered STRs identified by the software, with 20 properties removing their listings.
In 2025, the code enforcement department received 114 complaints about roughly a quarter of the city’s STRs, both registered and unregistered. So far in 2026, Turman said code enforcement has received 67 complaints about 35 different STRs. Trash is by far the most common complaint, she said, followed by high grass and leaves.
Richardson Police Chief Gary Tittle said the police department received 112 calls for service related to short-term rentals in 2025 about 56 different properties. The police have received 64 calls in 2026 so far about 28 STRs. These calls are primarily about disturbances, Tittle said.
These calls are a small percentage of total calls for service and complaints to the city, Tittle said, making up about 0.21% of all citizen-initiated police calls in 2025.
“I recognize it’s a small number of calls, but I’m glad to see we’re making additional recommendations, because for those that live next to them, this is really important and feels much more impactful than the statistics show,” council member Jennifer Justice said.
Tittle said the police and code enforcement departments have been collaborating to address issues and meet with concerned citizens and STR operators.
Also of note
Although the regulations are focused on STRs located in single-family homes, Turman said the study also looked at rentals located in multifamily properties.
Staff found 86 STRs at 14 complexes in Richardson, with Sync at CityLine and Reserve at Spring Creek making up the majority of those numbers. Most STRs in multifamily facilities are unregistered, Turman said.
These rentals are more difficult for the city to address through regulations, she said, as most listings do not contain information on specific units and typically change frequently. Effective enforcement will also require coordination with property managers, she said.
The city has not yet received any code complaints at multifamily properties around STRs, Turman said, although it is not known if property managers have fielded complaints from residents.
Turman said Richardson staff plan to meet with property management at the multifamily locations that currently have STRs to discuss how to ensure adequate registration with the city.
What’s next
Council is set to approve the new regulations Aug. 10. The temporary prohibition on new short-term rental registrations is still in place and will expire as planned Aug. 25.
