BEND, OR -- The Bend City Council is considering whether to revisit rules surrounding short-term rentals. The code was recently rewritten, but Dave Felton is asking the city to take another look. 

He and his roommate want to rent a room out of their home on the west side of Bend. Current code stipulates the owner must reside in the home. Felton and his roommate rent, and his permit request was denied. He told Councilors, last week, "I believe that it is time that this code is changed, so that renters in Bend - with the appropriate permission of their property owner, obviously - may be able to do the same thing that hundreds of Air-BnBers do in cities across America. Again, I'm asking that the Bend development code be changed to allow these types of short-term rentals to be considered for both owner-occupied and operator-occupied dwellings." Felton says his landlord is on board with the idea of renting out a room.

"This small change could mean an increase in tax revenue and even tourism revenue for the city, as well," says Felton, "since this would open up running more short-term rentals to other responsible renters like Mikhalia and I, who love showing off our city."

Councilor Barb Campbell says she's interested in taking a look at possible changes to the code.