Short-term rentals in Broken Arrow, explained properly.

Section 7-468.3 sets the cap for residential zoning districts only. An applicant that is an entity must disclose every natural person with beneficial ownership (25 percent or more of the equity or voting interests, or the ability to appoint a majority of governing persons), and licenses held by an entity count toward each such person's cap. The cap does not apply in mixed-use or commercial districts if expressly authorized by SUP or PUD conditions.

Section 7-471 makes each license separate and non-transferable from the person, firm or corporation it was issued to. The license expires when the owner sells or transfers title, and terminates automatically on a transfer of title to the dwelling unit or a change in controlling beneficial ownership of the licensee. Section 7-468(g) also requires the owner to acknowledge that no licensee may transfer the right to operate by lease, agreement or contract, and that a license has no legal effect at any location other than the one for which it is issued.

Section 7-468 requires a non-refundable processing fee (amount in the manual of fees) and information on City forms: the address; number of guestrooms; number and location of on-site parking spaces; owner and agent contact details (the agent is the local responsible agent); an owner's authorization form if an agent applies; a screening plan for approving guests; evidence of mailed notice to each abutting property and those directly across an abutting public street (certified mail, return receipt requested, for initial applications; first-class mail allowed for renewals; email also where an address is reasonably available); consent to an annual code enforcement inspection; a floor plan identifying sleeping areas; a parking plan diagramming off-street spaces; and acknowledgement of the posting and house-rule requirements. Short-term rentals within a 500-foot radius of schools, day cares, playgrounds or parks must conduct additional screening of potential renters and not rent to individuals on the sex offender registry. A material misrepresentation or missing required information is grounds for denial.

Section 7-466 defines the local responsible agent (LRA) as a natural person designated by the licensee, and Section 7-468(d)(1) requires the listed agent to be the LRA. Section 7-468.1(a) says the LRA shall answer calls from the City at all times and be on site within one hour when requested, and Section 7-468.1(l) requires the LRA to be on site within one hour of a City or police notice of enumerated nuisance behavior and to cause the nuisance to cease. A change of agent must be registered with the new agent as 24/7 contact within 30 calendar days (Sec. 7-472).

Section 7-469 lists the grounds: the applicant has an outstanding debt to the City; the property has an unabated notice of violation, in excess of 30 days, citing violations of the Code; other relevant facts the director discovers or deems advisable, such as drug-related arrests, prostitution-related arrests or calls for service; and noncompliance with federal, state and city code, including unresolved documented violations of the adopted building, fire, mechanical, fuel gas and electrical codes. A denial can be appealed (Sec. 7-470, Sec. 7-475).

Section 7-468.1(b) prohibits events, parties, commercial gatherings, and the use of amplified sound equipment or musical instruments audible outdoors. Section 7-468.1(j) says that at any time the number of persons on site who are not overnight occupants may not exceed ten, and a gathering above that limit is deemed an event.

Section 7-468.1(b) applies quiet hours city-wide from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Section 7-468.1(i) limits outdoor congregation between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. to six persons across front, side and back yards, porches, driveways and patios, and guests must relocate indoors or disperse on request of the LRA or the City.

Section 7-468.1(d) sets maximum overnight occupancy at two persons per sleeping area, not to exceed 12 persons per dwelling unit. Before each arrival the operator must identify in writing the rooms designated as non-sleeping. A sleeping area is a habitable room customarily used for sleeping that meets building code egress standards, and excludes kitchens, halls, bathrooms, closets and garages (Sec. 7-466).

Section 7-468.1(e) requires at least one off-street space per sleeping area plus one additional space for the owner/host, unless Appendix A provides otherwise for mixed-use or commercial districts. Section 7-468.1(m) says the total number of vehicles associated with the rental may not exceed the off-street spaces shown on the approved parking plan, and vehicles may not block sidewalks, driveways, hydrants or fire lanes or park on unpaved yards. Appendix A was not read.

Section 7-468.1(c) requires an interior, non-recording noise-monitoring device that sends alerts to the operator when thresholds are exceeded, and a conspicuously placed, outward-facing security camera monitoring exterior entries. Audio recording is prohibited, devices may not be in bathrooms or sleeping areas, and alert and event logs must be kept for 180 days and provided to the City on request.

Section 7-468.1(n) requires the responsible party who books and occupies the rental to be at least 21 years of age and present during the rental period.

Section 7-468(n) requires the operator to post near the primary entrance the license certificate and number, the LRA 24/7 contact, maximum occupancy, a parking diagram, trash and recycling days, an emergency egress map, and the no events, amplified sound and quiet hours rules, plus a list of prohibited conduct (no public intoxication, no alcohol possession or consumption by minors, no public smoking or consumption of marijuana, no disturbing the peace, no fighting, obey the parking diagram, no more than six persons outdoors between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., and no more than ten non-occupant invitees at any time). Section 7-468(j) also requires written posted rules acknowledging the noise ordinance limits and the maximum occupancy.

Section 7-468.1(f) requires compliance with the STR safety checklist in the appendix to Article XVII (smoke and CO alarms, fire extinguishers, egress, address visibility and more). Section 7-468.1(g) requires the licensee to complete the City's annual self-inspection checklist, keep records and photos for three years and produce them on request; failure is a violation. The application includes consent to an annual inspection by a code enforcement officer (Sec. 7-468(f)). The appendix checklist also lists an insurance certificate ($1,000,000.00 per occurrence CGL) on file with the City, City STR training in the past 12 months and quarterly LRA contact tests; these three items are listed in the appendix checklist, so confirm their status with the City.

Section 7-468.1(h) requires licensees or hosting platforms on licensees' behalf to collect and remit all applicable state taxes and city fees. The City's lodging tax rate and the fee schedule were not read, so no City tax rate or total is stated here. State rules are shown in the Oklahoma layer.

Section 7-468.2 requires hosting platforms to give users listing rentals in the city a conspicuous notice that a City license is required, provide a dedicated field for the license number, and remove or disable a listing within three business days of written City notice that it lacks a valid license number or concerns a suspended or revoked rental. A platform that complies is not deemed in violation for user content posted without a valid license number. Under the transition rule (Sec. 7-478), hosting platforms comply within 60 days of the April 7, 2026 effective date.

Two parts of the article set the ladder. Section 7-473 lets the City suspend for 30 days on two verified police observations of enumerated nuisance behavior within any 12-month period, 90 days on three and 180 days on four or more, and revoke on three or more verified complaints in 12 months or any serious incident. Section 7-473.1 sets a matching ladder by verified complaints (30 days on two, 90 days on three, 180 days on four or more), says the City shall revoke on three or more verified complaints or any serious incident, and allows immediate suspension on a serious incident or an LRA failure to respond. Written notice and a hearing right come first. A person whose license is revoked cannot reapply for 12 months (Secs. 7-473, 7-473.1, 7-476). Under the safe harbor in Section 7-473.1(e) the director may disregard an incident the operator reported immediately and cooperated on. Revocation is also available for continued documented code violations, drug or prostitution arrests and calls for service (Sec. 7-473).

Section 7-475 gives any person aggrieved by a denial or revocation the right to appeal to the Broken Arrow City Council, by filing a notice of appeal with the city clerk's office within 14 days after notice of the decision. The hearing is at the next regularly scheduled council meeting after the notice is received, with notice mailed at least five days before. For revocation, the city manager holds the first hearing after written notice mailed at least five days before (Sec. 7-474).

Section 7-477 makes it unlawful to operate without a valid license or to fail to comply with the article's requirements. Violations are a class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000.00, imprisonment for not more than ten days, or both, for each violation, and each day a violation is allowed to exist is a separate violation. Violations are also subject to civil liability and enforcement under Chapter 8 of the Zoning Ordinance and civil enforcement through Oklahoma District Court.

Section 1354(A)(7) of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes levies an excise tax of 4.5% of the gross receipts or gross proceeds from the service of furnishing rooms by a hotel, apartment hotel, public rooming house, motel, public lodging house or tourist camp, unless the sale is exempted in the Oklahoma Sales Tax Code. The Oklahoma Tax Commission says the state sales and use tax rate is 4.5%, that local taxes may also apply, and that, except for residential utilities and certain food, local taxes apply to the same taxable items and services as the state tax; it also lists lodging among the transactions the state sales tax levy covers. The statute and the Commission's answers read do not say in so many words whether a private home or room rented for short stays is a "public lodging house"; owners should confirm their filing duty with the Commission. City and county rates are shown on each place's page.

Under sections 1391 and 1392 of Title 68, a marketplace facilitator is a business that lists or advertises a marketplace seller's products and, directly or through others, collects the buyer's payment and passes it to the seller. Since Senate Bill 1339 (effective January 1, 2023), "product" includes services and other transactions taxable under the Sales Tax Code, but not a hotel or motel built with more than 12 rooms. A facilitator with at least $10,000 of taxable Oklahoma sales in the previous 12 months must file an election each year with the Tax Commission either to collect and remit the tax or to comply with notice and reporting requirements; one that elects to collect must get a sales tax permit, and its collection duty also covers local sales taxes administered by the Commission. The Tax Commission says marketplace facilitators making sales of Oklahoma lodging may now be required to collect and remit state and local taxes. Which election a given platform has made is not stated in these sources; check with the platform. City hotel or lodging taxes are separate and shown on each place's page.

Section 1-1201 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes makes it unlawful to operate or maintain a hotel without a license from the State Commissioner of Health, which (unless a rule says otherwise) expires each June 30 and carries an annual fee set by the Commissioner. For this section, "hotel" includes any hotel, motel, tourist court, apartment house, rooming house or other place where sleeping accommodations are furnished or offered for pay to transient guests, if five or more rooms are available for transient guests. The statute does not say how the Department applies this to a house or apartment rented short-term; owners renting five or more rooms should check with the Oklahoma State Department of Health.