‘Neighborhoods are for Neighbors!’: Hendersonville fights illegal short-term vacation rentals

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — When Larken Lech first considered where to call home, she considered a few factors, like safety and the prevalence of short-term rentals.

At the time, short-term rentals weren’t a problem — until they were.

“We were ready to bake cookies and say, ‘Hi!’ and meet the neighbors and introduce them to everybody,” Lech said. “Instead, we have an illegal short-term rental.”

If you drive around her neighborhood, you’ll see signs that have popped up in several yards.

“Neighborhoods are for Neighbors!” the signs read. “Illegal short-term rentals are not welcome in our city.”

Lech told News 2 that she helped create the signs.

“Neighborhoods are built for neighbors and not for short-term rentals,” Lech explained. “We will call the police if necessary because it’s just not fair.”

The City of Hendersonville has sought to permanently shut down two short-term vacation rentals that officials said have racked up more than 50 citations. One of them is located near Lech. She said that she had personally called the police 15 times, while her neighbor had called between 40 and 50 times.

“Unfortunately, we were witnessing a lot of drinking in the front yard, getting into their vehicles, driving down the road, lots of noise and nuisances,” Lech said.

On Monday, August 5, the city filed a lawsuit against J&J Ventures LLC and its principals, Jeremy R. Durham and Jessica Durham. The city seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions as well as other damages.

In an announcement regarding the lawsuit, a spokesperson for the City of Hendersonville said that the two homes, located at 540 Indian Lake Road and 107 Breakwater North, have been the subject of numerous complaints from residents and neighbors.

Some of the top complaints have been in regard to “late-night commotions, increased and erratic traffic, and trespassing” — all of which officials attributed to “short-term rental zoning violations.”

“This is a neighborhood. It’s not a place for motels and it has really upset the neighbors’ quality of life,” Hendersonville mayor Jamie Clary said. “It’s traffic at all hours. It’s all-night parties. It’s people you’re unfamiliar with.”

Hendersonville banned all vacation rentals lasting less than one month in residential zoning in October 2016. Under the ordinance, short-term vacation rentals are only allowed in the Dockside Neighborhood and General Commercial zones of the city.

The ban has since been widely enforced, with the mayor’s office announcing that it would crack down on violators amid a reported rise in illegal rentals in 2023, which was accompanied by an influx of complaints from residents.

Several citations were issued, and each case tried in city court in 2023 resulted in guilty judgments, according to city officials. Those rulings were appealed to the Sumner County Circuit Court, where the cases are still awaiting trial.

Amid those proceedings, officials said that J&J ventures has “continued to rack up additional citations for continuing to violate the City’s 2016 ordinance.” Illegal short-term rentals are subject to a $50 fine, court costs, and further prosecution, with each day in operation being a separate offense.

“We’ve got 50 convictions on him and he’s appealing those, but we’re tired of waiting and we want to shut him down while he continues to appeal those,” Clary said.

Hendersonville residents have been encouraged to report concerns regarding illegal rentals by calling (615) 451-3838.