Stemming from a project seeking to explore whether Public Administration’s public value framework may be a useful conceptual framework to inform tourism policy making, the authors studied the introduction of short-term let (STL) licensing regulation in Scotland since October 2022. Focusing on issue problematisation, and the implications of the designation of the city of Edinburgh as a short term let control area, it is argued that the concept of `community` is a key influencer in differing policy perspectives. Using data from 25 semi-structured interviews with public, private and community actors it is illustrated that some participants assume a singular, universally accepted understanding of community, this defined by physical proximity and permanence in place. A resultant view, at the expense of more transient residents or visitors, is that in access and claim to space and place licensing should be used as a central control tool. Beyond the impacts of STLs on `community` welfare and wellbeing raised in the licensing-related documentation, and in previous studies (i.e., housing shortage, overtourism, anti-social behaviour), the interview data also highlights the existence of broader discords around the ownership of the city and its public spaces, the emergence of micro-geographies of discontent and the primacy of claiming individual rights and privileges over creating collective public value. Edinburgh’s example demonstrates how diverse issues may drive `community` reactions to STLs, shaping issue definition and influencing implementation, and ultimately, the perceived success or failure of the licensing scheme in creating positive public value outcomes.