“Building a Better Mousetrap”: Evolving STR Regulation from Parcel Oversight to Market Management in Charleston, SC

<span style="font-weight: 400;">This Masters Project focuses on short term rental policy, regulation, and growth in Charleston, SC. As tourism-driven growth accelerates and housing affordability declines, local governments have increasingly turned to STR regulation as a tool to manage externalities and preserve residential function. Charleston&rsquo;s case is quite unique in the sense that their primary regulation, a 2017 Ordinance, seeks to spatially-control STRs on a parcel level, but lacks an overall market strategy.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The central question of this investigation challenges the Charleston ordinance&rsquo;s efficacy, and in a parallel sense asks whether a cap-based structure could be right for Charleston&rsquo;s second generation regulation for STR. To answer this question, the study employs a quasi-experimental design based on a comparative case-study analysis and five interviews with municipal professionals.&nbsp;</span> &nbsp;