Lexington County Council has agreed to put the controversial issue of short-term residential rentals on the agenda for the next council meeting.

Council held a brief discussion on the topic during a committee meeting April 11. One issue they agreed on was that state policies regarding rentals will not block the county’s efforts to place their own restrictions.

Barring a change to council’s regular meeting schedule, the issue is set to appear on the agenda for the body’s second regular April meeting on April 25.

Municipalities throughout the state are adopting more restrictive policies on short-term rentals provided through rental companies such as Airbnb. The restrictions are prompted by frequent incidents associated with young occupants holding parties and creating late-night noises.

The City of Columbia recently passed an ordinance regulating short-term rentals. Starting next month, people hosting their properties on websites like Airbnb and Vrbo will have to operate by owning a business license and paying annual registration fees.

At the April 11 meeting, Council Member Todd Cullum said the problems are not happening with owner-occupied properties.

In an interview with the Chronicle earlier this month, Council Vice Chair Darrell Hudson said he does expect the body to take some action on short-term rentals, but it will take some time to come up with the right plan.

“I anticipate there will be some changes,” he said.

Since a lot of other cities have adopted new guidelines, he said some research could be done to determine a plan of action.

“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” he said.

Council members have publicly voiced concerns about problems with several short-term rentals in the Lake Murray area.

County officials have estimated that within the Lake Murray area, almost 1,000 properties are registered with Airbnb and another 69 are registered on Vrbo.