There’s a move afoot at Dallas City Hall to reopen the painful wound over short-term rentals, to bring it all back for public debate.

Some Dallas City Council members who were against the city’s ban, passed more than a year ago, are pointing to an ongoing temporary injunction barring its enforcement as evidence it should be revisited.

They say more legally bulletproof restrictions should be hashed out and approved so the city can get on with reaping millions of dollars in revenue it’s losing while waiting for a protracted legal battle to play out.

We disagree. Even as we reiterate our concerns about the legality of Dallas’ short-term rental restrictions, we haven’t forgotten the fight over them was one of the ugliest seen at City Hall in recent memory — and dragged on for years.

The City Council knew full well in June 2023 that the short-term rental rules they were adopting would land them in court, and opponents quickly sued. But the council was willing to take that risk on behalf of the thousands of homeowners pleading for relief from the citywide smattering of properties they said were harming their neighborhoods. The city shouldn’t abandon them now.

There’s another good reason to let the legal fight continue, at least for now. The city will glean valuable insight from the various trial and appellate court rulings along the way to help it devise a more legally sound set of restrictions going forward if necessary. The 5th District Court of Appeals is mulling a request by the city to lift the temporary injunction, and its ruling will serve as a guidepost.

In any event, we’re loath to see this highly emotional issue go back before the City Plan Commission and the Dallas City Council for rounds of heated public hearings, which may be necessary if the city starts over.

Dallas City Council member Chad West made a compelling case for reviving the short-term rentals debate earlier this month at the council’s Government Performance and Financial Management Committee meeting.

While the city remains handcuffed from enforcing its registration fee program and zoning restrictions limiting short-term rentals in nonresidential areas, these properties continue to operate citywide, West noted. City staff estimated that there are about 3,500 short-term rentals in the city, but less than half of them have registered to pay the 9% hotel occupancy taxes as required.

West said the city also stands to lose millions more if the issue isn’t resolved before the FIFA World Cup games in 2026. Meanwhile, the city spends nearly $1 million on its new short-term rental enforcement team, which for the time being has been diverted to other code enforcement matters.

“I think we admit we got it wrong and we go back,” West told the committee. But that brought a sharp rebuke from council member Cara Mendelsohn: “We debated this ad nauseam. I can’t believe that you are wanting to do this again.”

Council member Paula Blackmon also resisted: “It is not a good public policy approach. I just don’t think there is a clear reason to bring it back.”

Not deterred, West said he’d consider asking that the matter be briefed by the city’s lawyers in a council executive session. For now, that’s where it belongs. Behind closed doors.

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