Stonington report recommends ways to deal with illegal short-term rentals
Stonington -- The town’s planning staff has developed a report that outlines the options the town has for dealing with the illegal practice of short-term housing rentals.
A large crowd of renters and opponents attended a Planning and Zoning Commission forum last month to tell members how they feel about the controversial practice which has exploded with the advent of internet sites such as Airbnb and VRBO. The town has issued a handful of violation notices to homeowners it has received complaints about.
The report states that the town has three options: do nothing and continue to prohibit short-term rentals, determine that the practice is not regulated by zoning and therefore allowed or establish regulations that allow short-term rentals.
Planning and Zoning Commission members received the report Friday and will discuss it at an upcoming meeting. That discussion will not take place at Tuesday’s commission meeting.
Short rentals of less than 30 days is not a permitted use in the town’s residential zones. Complicating the issue is that for many years homes and cottages, especially in waterfront communities, such as Lords Point and Masons Island, have been rented to people during the summer, which is a violation of the town’s zoning regulations.
The reports states that those rentals were the result of long-term relationships renters had with owners or found through print media.
But the report states the “advent of the internet has enabled new tools to connect property owners to potential renters.” This has resulted in a large increases in the number of rentals and some residents have complained about the impact on their neighborhoods.
The report states that if the commission chooses the “do nothing” approach it will give the Department of Planning direction that any future short-term rentals should be addressed through enforcement.
As for not regulating the rentals, thus allowing them, the report states there is room for interpretation of zoning regulations.
And as for regulating the practice, the report states the town could review and permit rentals in certain districts or regulate them by implementing an ordinance that would have to be approved by voters at a town meeting.
The report states that among the issues the town could regulate include parking and noise standards, occupancy and requiring a certain distance between rentals “to assure that an entire block does not turn into a short-term rental district.”
The planning department is asking the Planning and Zoning Commission to give it direction by answering three questions -- are short-term rentals currently regulated by zoning, should short-term rentals be regulated by zoning and if yes, should the Planning and Zoning Commission work to develop zoning regulations for short term rentals.
j.wojtas@theday.com
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