[Massplanners] Short Term Rentals

Tue Aug 9 14:47:05 EDT 2022

The town of Killington, Vermont adopted short term rental regs in 2020. 
They are within zoning, but we are now thinking of making it an ordinance 
as in Vermont, it's easier to assess fees it it's an ordinance and not a 
zoning bylaw. Short term rentals are permitted in all zoning districts and 
a zoning permit and fee is required if you rent for more than 14 days in a 
given year. The maximum number of occupants in a short-term rental unit is 
2 persons per legal bedroom plus 2 more so for a 3-bedroom unit, you can 
rent to a maximum of 8 people.  The zoning permit requires evidence of a 
wastewater permit which in Vermont is issued by the state. This has created 
alot of issues because people are listing their properties for more 
bedrooms then is allowed by their septic permit.  The zoning administrator 
is continually scanning airbnb and vrbo to make certain people are not 
advertising for more bedrooms then allowed per their permit.  The other 
requirement is evidence of a Fire Safety Inspection since Killington has no 
building code, but public buildings do need a fire safety inspection and 
these properties are deemed public buildings by the State Division of Fire 
Safety. 

We are going through the process of revising the regulations and in 
addition to changing them to a general ordinance we are looking into 
further restrictions. The town has over 700 units that have received zoning 
permits for short term rentals, and it has certainly impacted the rental 
market. People are now buying houses with the sole purpose of operating 
them as short-term rental units which is making us question whether we 
should be allowing them in all zoning districts, and whether we should 
adopt further restrictions. For example, should properties that are 
operated as short-term rental units need more parking since we are often 
seeing homes with people parking all over the road.  Noise and trash are 
also issues. its definitely been a learning experience.

Feel free to reach out to me directly.

Lisa Davis, AICP
Planning Consultant

----------------------------------------
From: Angela Cleveland via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Sent: 8/9/2022 2:05 PM
To: Eric Twarog <eric.twarog at greenfield-ma.gov>, Anne Capra 
<acapra at southhadleyma.gov>
Cc: "Massplanners Listserv (MassPlanners at masscptc.org)" 
<MassPlanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: Re: [Massplanners] Short Term Rentals

Hello All!

Amesbury passed our Short-Term Rental Zoning Ordinance and Regulations (as 
a General Ordinance) back in the Fall of 2021. We explored whether it 
should be a general ordinance vs. zoning and found (after research and 
discussion with our attorneys) that it would be better served as a zoning 
ordinance. Please see attached for responses to the other bullets, but here 
are the short answers:

 Both ? Zoning Ordinance and General Ordinance for Licensing ProcessYes, we 
can revoke the permit (see licensing process)Yes, we can issue fines (see 
licensing process)We do not restrict short term rentals to geographic 
locations (see Zoning Ordinance)Yes, we adopted a licensing process 

I don?t believe I can attached the documents, so here are the final 
Ordinances adopted by City Council:

2021-093 Ordinance to Establish a Licensing Process for Short Term Leases 
of Residential Units

2021-105 Ordinance to Establish Zoning Ordinance for Short Term Rentals of 
Residential Units

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Angie

ANGELA CLEVELAND, AICP
Director
 Community & Economic Development	  

T (978) 388-8110
C (603) 305-5385

On Tue, Aug 9, 2022 at 10:08 AM Anne Capra via MassPlanners 
<massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:

Hello Planners,

South Hadley is exploring adoption of a short term rental bylaw. We are 
interested in hearing about the experiences of other towns/cities with 
bylaw implementation on:
general versus zoning bylawtype of permit or license issuedability to 
revoke the permit or license for nuisance activityability to issue fines 
for nuisance activityFor general bylaws, do you restrict short term rentals 
to specific parts of town?Did you adopt regulations for administration of 
the bylaw?

Send me links to your adopted general or zoning bylaws, and any regulations 
adopted thereunder.

Thanks!

Anne Capra

--

Anne Capra, AICP

Director, Planning & Conservation

Town of South Hadley 

116 Main Street | South Hadley, MA 01075

(413) 538-5017 x6128

acapra at southhadleyma.gov

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--

Eric Twarog, AICP, Director

City of Greenfield

Department of Planning & Development

20 Sanderson Street, Room 203

14 Court Square (Mailing Address)

Greenfield, MA 01301

(413) 772-1549

eric.twarog at greenfield-ma.gov

Notice: Please be aware the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined 
that most emails to and from the City of Amesbury are public records and 
therefore cannot be kept confidential.
MGL: Chpt.66, Sec.10 Public Records Law.
Notice: Please be aware the Massachusetts Secretary of State has determined 
that most emails to and from the City of Amesbury are public records and 
therefore cannot be kept confidential.
MGL: Chpt.66, Sec.10 Public Records Law.

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