In the last few hours, I started getting this form email urging, for the first time, that Council members abstain on Bill -608. To be clear, it is very likely that any form email that we get opposing Bill -608 is drafted and spread primarily by industry lobbyists.

The email says there was a four hour meeting on Friday afternoon where new compromise proposals were floated. If that happened, the potential compromises haven't been shared with the Council generally. I don't know any more than what is in the form email.

Also, the form email calls -608 a ban on short-term rentals. The truth is that, if -608 were to pass, there would still be unlimited owner-occupied short term rentals, unlimited investor-owned short term rentals in buildings with 3 or more units, unlimited short term rentals downtown, and unlimited short term rentals in the Gulch. Yes, with -608, investor-owned short term rentals in traditional 1 and 2 unit homes in family neighborhoods would be phased out. But there is simply no way to call this a ban. Under -608, there would still be many, many short term rentals in Nashville.

For almost a year now, my position has been that I intend to support whatever short term rental bill the majority of district council members support. By definition, the district council members are closer to day-to-day short term rental issues than I am as At-Large member of the Council.

I believe that the majority of district council members support -608. My plan is to attend the Council Planning and Zoning Committee meeting tomorrow to get a better feel about this before deciding for sure how I'll vote.

I'm posting this new industry form email this afternoon because it is irresponsible. While the form email is wrong in claiming that -608 is a ban, both sides of this issue have engaged in hyperbole. Maybe that's just the way it goes with tough issues. My real objection is that the form industry email runs the risk of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy about state preemption. Under any view of the world, a law that allows unlimited short term rentals in owner occupied homes, high rise buildings, any building with 3 or more units, all through downtown, and the entire Gulch is not a ban. If it passes, it will reflect a family-friendly compromise that I would ask the state to respect and honor. This topic is hard enough without the industry going out of its way to invite state intervention.