Orange Beach Rushes an Airbnb Rule. A Councilwoman's Rental Company Is Pushing It.

Airbnb's new host and checkout rules take effect Nov. 20. Orange Beach wants an answer in place before then, and the push is coming from inside the council chamber.

Orange Beach: the Airbnb fight

Under Airbnb's new policies, hosts would no longer be allowed to require a guest ID, a signed rental agreement or guest contact information (Gulf Coast Media). Kelly Pitts of Celebrity Vacation Rentals told Gulf Coast Media that Airbnb is already sending managers dummy email addresses and hiding guests' phone numbers.

Before Tuesday's meeting, Beachball Properties sent out a press release urging locals to attend (OBA). It asked the council for ordinances requiring a guest ID, a signed rental agreement and emergency contact information for every short-term rental in the city, no matter which platform books it. Beachball is owned by Councilwoman Ginger Harrelson and her husband, Hunter, whom the council put on the Tourism Board last month (our story).

The council moved fast. Councilman Pat Simpson said the council discussed it at a work session that afternoon and that staff, the city attorney and council members are drafting language. He said Harrelson is among the council members working on it. Mayor Tony Kennon said the city should fix the problem if it has the authority, and he urged quick action. City Attorney Jamie Logan said adding rental agreement language to the existing ordinance should be simple, while requiring licensing would be a bigger change (Gulf Coast Media).

The case for a rule is real, and it isn't only Beachball's. Glenn Kaiser of Kaiser Vacation Rentals said the city's current ordinance lets police help managers remove problem guests, as long as the guests know the rules of their stay. Managers say they can't show that without a signed agreement. The council has been working on rental rules since summer: "cohosting regulations and possible ordinance" was a work session item in July, and remote co-hosting rules came up again in August (city agendas).

What's off: The company asking for the rule belongs to a council member, and she is helping write it. Harrelson's 2025 ethics filing lists $250,000 or more in income from the company, under its legal name, Huntco Investments Inc. (Alabama Ethics Commission). Gulf Coast Media's story included no comment from her.

To be fair to her, she has stepped back before. She abstained when the council voted on her husband's Tourism Board seat, and in March she abstained on adding a request for an Attorney General's opinion on rental tax rules (city minutes). Watch whether she abstains again when an ordinance comes to a vote.

The council meets next on Nov. 17, three days before Airbnb's change.

Orange Beach: $274,000 to oversee pool construction

The council approved up to $274,000 for Lose of Tennessee, the firm that designed the Aquatics Center expansion, to oversee construction of Phase 1 (OBA). That is $247,000 in fees plus about $27,000 in expenses, and it pays for oversight, not building.

The bigger numbers are still ahead. Phase 1, a second leisure pool, a pump house with meeting rooms and new decks, carries a design-stage estimate of $7.24 million. Phase 2, which replaces the lap pool and renovates the pump and pool houses, is estimated at $4.19 million. The council packet did not identify a funding source, and an April 2027 construction start is assumed but not confirmed.

With Gulf Shores: who answers calls at the new roundabout

Orange Beach and Gulf Shores are working on an agreement that spells out which city has jurisdiction at the new roundabout north of the Intracoastal Waterway, at State Route 161 and the Alabama Beaches Parkway. Police from both cities already back each other up there (OBA). Two cities settling a boundary question before it becomes a problem is how it should work.

Coming up

• Mon., Nov. 9: The Orange Beach Planning Commission takes up Margaritaville's 142-lot subdivision and a zoning rewrite.
• Tue., Nov. 17: Orange Beach council. Watch for the rental ordinance, and for approval of the Oct. 20 minutes that record Hunter Harrelson's appointment.
• Fri., Nov. 20: Airbnb's new rules take effect.

See something wrong? Tell us and we will correct it in public. Know more? Send a tip.