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Eureka Springs Bans Private Vacation Homestays

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Rock Cottage Gardens Bed&Breakfast is just one of hundreds of licensed tourist lodgings in Eureka Springs.
J. Froelich

Eureka Springs city council recently approved a new ordinance to prohibit hundreds of privately-run short-term vacation rentals in town, commonly listed on sites such as Airbnb. Currently Eureka counts over 180 tourist lodgings including "bed & breakfast" accomodations, cottages, cabins and boarding houses licensed to operate only in certain city zones and required to pay a special city tax. 

Clarification: Only one national homestay vendor collects a tourist tax from unlicensed short-term vacation rentals in Eureka Springs, which is remitted to the city, according to a city official. Those taxed homestay rentals, however, are not disclosed.

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Jacqueline Froelich is an investigative reporter and news producer for Ozarks at Large.