►
Description
City of Charleston Committee on Public Safety 5/1/2020, Part 1
A
A
A
A
B
B
A
E
A
D
A
E
E
So
what
I
did
and
just
to
benefit
those
who
knew
councilmember
and
others
that
may
not
know
the
whole
process?
I
did
just
a
little
bit
more
so
I'm
doing
a
review.
Slash
update
just
to
get
everybody
on
the
same
page
as
we
are
now.
So.
Basically,
you
know
in
2017
short
term
rental
task
force
was
created.
E
April
10th
of
2018
City
Council
adopted
the
short
tournament
to
our
ordinance,
and
this
is
your
timeline.
June
2018,
hired
and
trained
three
code
enforcement
officers
and
these
officers
are
solely
dedicated
to
short-term
rental
enforcement.
Only
July
the
10th
was
the
first
day
that
citizens
were
able
to
apply
for
short-term
rentals
and
get
the
permits,
and
we
began
enforcement
in
August
after
we
purchased
the
software
to
help
us
with
the
enforcement
process.
E
So
basically,
the
the
strength
of
the
ordinance
is
is
straightforward
and
not
very
hard
to
prove
is
advertising
without
a
permit
is
a
violation
as
an
addendum
to
that.
Not
only
include
if
you
don't
include
the
permit
on
your
advertisement
on
these
online
portals,
then
you
are
in
violation
and
over
time
we
noticed
that
there
was
a
lot
of
advertising
of
additional
rooms
that
were
not
pre-approved
for
the
permit
and
we
actually
made
cases
against
those
types
of
individuals
as
well.
So
what
do
we
need?
We
need
the
tools
for
our
enforcement
at
the
beginning.
E
Do
the
procurement
process
we
contracted
with
a
software
compliance
company
by
the
name
of
STR
helper,
and
this
company
basically
provides
a
software
that
monitors
these
online
rental
platforms.
24/7
365
our
GIS
department
provided
all
incorporated,
City
Charles
and
parcel
ideas
to
include
Daniel
Island.
E
You
know
all
the
islands
of
Peninsula,
West,
Ashley
and
all
those
parcel
IDs
were
uploaded
into
the
software
program,
that's
managed
by
this
company
and
that
would
weed
out
the
ones
that
do
have
a
permit
and
the
ones
that
do
not
have
a
permit,
so
the
beauty
of
the
software
and
what
what
it's
beneficial
to
do.
It's.
Basically,
the
software
can
extract
information
from
these
online
platforms
that
the
end-user
your
eye
cannot
see.
E
So,
basically,
when
you
go
online
and
you
go
into
VR,
BL
or
whatever
you're,
not
getting
all
the
information
of
the
owner's
name,
sometimes
not
even
addresses
you
won't
get
an
address
for
the
location,
so
it's
kind
of
like
hidden
in
the
background.
Well,
what
these
software
company
does
is
they
they
have
a
software.
They
utilize
an
API.
An
API
is
a
application
programming
interface
that
is
able
to
see
what
your
and
I
cannot
see.
So
they,
this
software
is
able
to
extract
all
that
information
out
of
the
advertisement
and
compile
it
for
us.
E
They
have
their
own
technicians
that
also
locate
the
property
they
provide
pictures
and
things
of
that
nature.
So
when
all
this
informations
in
there
and
it's
compiled
by
guys,
have
this
at
their
leisure
to
monitor
all
the
progress
that's
going
on.
So
all
the
data
that's
collected
from
online
rental
platforms
includes
the
address
the
parcel
data,
property
owner
rental
information
and
property
inment
images.
It
also
lets
us
know
how
much
money
these
individuals
have
made
on
their
their
rentals.
E
So
that's
very
important
and
it
maps
it
out
like
a
normal
map
of
a
funny
and
locations.
This.
This
dashboard
gives
us
all
the
information
we
need
to
compile
a
case
after
it's
vetted
through
the
the
company.
It
comes
to
my
guys.
They
extract
that
information
into
a
report
form
and
basically
what
they
do
is
once
they
have
the
package
for
validating.
We
don't
stop
there,
so
we
got
to
be
very
careful
from
the
beginning.
I
made
it
a
point
for
the
guys
to
to
follow
up
each
and
every
case
and
cross-check.
E
All
the
information
that
is
supplied
to
us
by
the
software
company
and
I
did
that
so
that
it
would
be
hard
to
challenge,
because
it
did
not
want
my
guys
to
prosecute
a
case
that
it
was
information
and
evidence
just
given
to
them.
So
what
they
do
is
they
cross-reference
the
state
records,
LLC's,
a
Charleston
local
records
county
records
and
they
also
respond
to
these
locations
and
get
indicative
evidence.
For
example,
a
lot
of
these
places
have
the
electronic
key
box
access
that
your
normal
residents,
wouldn't
they
have
made
their
service
that
comes
in.
E
We
document
that
and
any
other
issues
that
are
occurring
at
the
property
code
enforcement
issues
with
trash
and
things
of
that
nature.
So,
based
on
the
cross-reference
and
all
the
information
compiling
the
information,
my
officers
issued,
cease
and
desist
letter
to
each
violator
at
that
point.
If
they
don't
comply
and
then
we
proceed
to
a
court
summons,
it's
either
hand-delivered
or
is
issued
by
a
process
server.
We
find
that
a
lot
of
our
cases
involve
using
a
process
server,
because
a
lot
of
these
individuals
are
out
of
state
and
how
we
recoup
our
money.
E
We've
we
front
the
money
for
the
process
server
in
the
beginning
and
when
the
case
is
adjudicated,
we
ask
for
restitution
for
the
amount
of
money
it
took
to
hire
that
process
server
and
that
money
comes
back
to
us
and
also
we
have
one
prosecutor.
We
contracted
with
attorney
carolyn
blue,
who
prosecutes
all
our
short-term
rental
cases
so
totally
total.
To
date,
646
permits
have
been
issued
as
of
July.
10Th
of
2018
1718
advertisements
have
removed,
been
removed
since
enforcement
began,
so
that
is
direct
involvement
from
officers.
E
Making
contact
with
all
these
individuals
and
1209
advertisements
are
currently
going
going.
So
far,
we've
issued
241
criminal
summonses
to
date
since
the
inception
of
the
enforcement
198
of
those
have
been
adjudicated,
they've,
either
pled
guilty
or
found
guilty,
and
there
are
some
that
we
enter
into
plea
agreements
with
as
well.
Multiple
charges
for
one
individual
43
cases
are
pending
court
hearings.
Most
of
those
are
probably
jury
trials.
E
At
this
point
and
another
factor,
we
noticed
as
we
were
going
through,
this
75
houses
have
been
sold
and
returned
to
the
housing
stock
as
a
result
of
our
enforcement
and
bring
these
people
to
court,
and
a
hundred
and
ten
properties
have
been
returned
back
to
long
term
renting
status.
So
this
year
we
actually
two
companies
short-term
SPR,
helper
and
host
compliance
are
the
two
large
software
companies
in
the
United
States
merged.
So
it
is
now
host
compliance
and
the
beauty
of
this.
It's
it's
provided
additional
software
options
for
our
enforcement.
E
It
gives
us
more
online
platforms
to
monitor
and
which
does
make
our
our
stats
go
up
for
the
number
being
advertised.
But
when
you
have
more
platforms,
you're
going
to
have
more
advertised
and
the
collaborate
with
the
large
cities
across
the
United
States
that
use
the
same
software
and
I'll
end
it
with
keys
to
success.
Having
officers
dedicated
only
to
short-term
rental
enforcement
officers.
E
F
Thank
you
Dan
for
this
information.
Just
a
quick
question
about
the
software
and-
and
particularly
you
know
this.
This
runs
into
my
district
at
Ella
girl
can
I
borrow
a
little
bit
I've
heard
of
companies
that
basically
come
in
and
sign
long-term
leases
at
properties
and
then
basically
turn
around
and
short-term
rental,
the
properties
so
they'll
approach
a
landlord
sign,
the
long
term
lease
and
then
almost
sub
lease
out
the
str2
to
individuals.
Have
you
heard
of
that?
Oh
god,.
E
E
We,
as
these
court
cases,
go
ahead,
they
you
know,
go
forward
and
we
we
see
these
types
activities
happening.
Then
we
require
further
in
court
to
the
judge
to
determine
you
know
more
evidence
for
the
judge,
like
their
leases,
and
you
know
valid
leases.
We've
been
given
leases
that
were
a
joke,
but
you
can
distinct
between
the
two
of
what's
really
valid
and
not,
but
we
have
prosecuted
cases
in
in
this
type.
Now
we
haven't
received
many
lately.
Well,
especially
the
codeword
going
on
we've
actually
reduced.
E
We
haven't
had
it
I
think
four
complaints,
the
beginning
of
March
we've
had
nonsense.
Then
you
know
from
the
local
community
but
yeah
we,
we
are
familiar
with
this
type
of
activity
and
it
takes
a
little
longer
and
a
little
more
legwork,
but
we're
able
to
really
when
it's
all
said
and
done
resolve
it
just
one
at
a
time.
Jason.
B
Just
the
most
extreme
example
of
that
that
I
know
of
and
I'm
sure,
Dan's
aware
of
it
early
on
in
this
battle,
even
I,
think
before
we
pass
this
ordinance,
a
couple
guys
started
a
company
and
they
leased
an
entire
floor.
21
George
Street,
which
is
a
condo
complex
and
then
turned
around
and
base
made
an
entire
floor
of
short-term
rentals
on
George
Street
uh-huh.
B
B
The
other
thing
is
I
think
on
the
backside
of
this
economic
downturn,
with
all
these
apartments
that
are
coming
online
and
they're
not
gonna,
be
able
to
rent
them
out
long-term
we're
gonna
see
an
uptick
in
the
attempts
any
way
to
turn
floors
and
floors
and
floors
of
apartment
complexes
into
short-term
rentals,
so
get
ready
for
that.
It's
coming
well
we're
ready,
yeah,
it's
definitely
coming.
Yes,
sir.
A
D
Sir
customer
shilling
Thank
You
mr.
chairman
dan,
adjust
one
day.
I
know
you
said
you
had
43
cases
pending
is
the
stay
at
home,
warden,
it's
hurting
you
or
helping
you.
Obviously
you
don't
have
as
many
probably
but
you've
got
these
pending
and
is
it
backing
up
or
is
it
just
kind
of
stay
in
there?
The.
E
Court
systems
back
well,
I,
would
say
back
up.
We
haven't
had
any
trials,
I
think
our
next
court
availability
is
July
the
20th.
So
that's
part
of
the
reason.
The
most
of
those
cases
are
individuals
that
are
multiple
charges
and
you
have
requested
jury
trials.
So
a
lot
of
those
are
jury
trials,
okay,
good
job.
Thank.