Airbnb Approved 3-2 as Neighbors Plead; Victorian STR Blocked by Buffer Rule

Louisville's Board of Zoning Adjustment tackled a packed docket of 10 cases March 30, but two short-term rental fights consumed the bulk of the meeting — one ending in the board's only split vote of the day and the other exposing the rigid limits of the city's 600-foot buffer rule. Seven variance cases sailed through unanimously, but the STR debates laid bare the growing tension between property rights and neighborhood opposition in Louisville's residential corridors.

• Airbnb at 3629 Windward Way approved 3-2 after four neighbors testified about safety, parking and the loss of a multi-generational community; Board Members Horton and Ford voted no

• Short-term rental denied unanimously at 4803 S 6th St despite a major Victorian restoration; another STR permit approved within 600 feet weeks earlier triggered the buffer rule

• New 5,400 sq ft convenience store and gas station cleared for 2708 Dixie Highway, with five waivers recommended to Shively and a tree-relocation compromise

• Unpermitted garage built in 2018 retroactively approved at 407 Westwood Dr, resolving a four-year zoning enforcement case

• Seven variance cases — fences, setbacks, screening walls — all passed 5-0 with Board Member Rodriguez absent for the entire meeting

Why it matters: The 3-2 vote — the only non-unanimous decision of the meeting — signals that board members are increasingly uncomfortable rubber-stamping non-owner-occupied short-term rentals, even when the legal framework gives them little basis to deny.