Norwich — Members of the City Council said they are ready to work on a proposed ordinance to regulate short-term rentals “sooner rather than later,” after they heard a presentation Monday from a firm that specializes in monitoring such rentals and handling complaints from neighbors about operations.

Norwich has 64 unique short-term rental units being advertised on 74 different online platforms and rent for a median nightly rate of $166, said Bruce McCaskill, account executive for Host Compliance LLC. The firm had contacted the city to inquire about the city’s interest in regulating short-term rentals. McCaskill said 93% of the properties rent the entire house, as opposed to an owner renting a room or an apartment.

McCaskill gave an overview of the company’s services and various fees. The company monitors listing sites to identify properties, takes screenshot photos of advertisements and sends letters to owners notifying them of a new city ordinance and the licensing fees required. Once the system is up and running, the company runs a 24-hour toll-free hotline to receive complaints, documents the complaints and contacts the owner to attempt to resolve the issue within 30 to 60 minutes, McCaskill said.

The basic fee would be $45 per listing per year, which would total $3,330 for the 74 listings operating in Norwich. Compliance monitoring would cost $2,250 per year and the hotline $1,200. McCaskill said the fees do not change mid-year even if the number of units change.

City Planner Deanna Rhodes said the city would set a licensing fee for short-term rentals that would cover the costs of running the regulatory program. Rhodes said if the city wanted an ordinance, the city planning, zoning and building departments do not have the staffing to handle the administration of the ordinance and would need to hire a firm such as Host Compliance.

Rhodes said Mayor Peter Nystrom asked the planning staff to look into regulating short-term rentals, and this summer, Host Compliance contacted the city after discovering the growing number of short-term rentals in the city. McCaskill told the council the number of Norwich short-term rentals has jumped by 22% in the past year.

Rhodes and Nystrom said city offices have received complaints about noise, parking and other issues.

Alderwoman Stacy Gould said with more than 60 such units already operating in Norwich: “I think we need to get on this sooner rather than later.”

Rhodes said an ordinance could require separation distances between short-term rental properties, preventing entire neighborhoods from turning into short-term rentals and the city could steer the short-term rentals to be located along public transportation corridors or close to commercial centers to support local businesses. The city also might want to encourage the use of the many large 19th-century mansions in the city, to provide an income source for owners to maintain those properties.

But Nystrom said his office has received the same types of complaints as the planning office. He said concerns are growing that the number of short-term rentals is proliferating and that operators are looking to purchase more such properties in residential neighborhoods with narrow roads and more rural characteristics.

Nystrom would support promoting short-term rentals for the upper stories of downtown commercial buildings to help promote downtown development.

Alderwoman Ella Myles said short-term rentals are becoming a problem in Rhode Island, where so many properties are devoted to lucrative short-term rentals, causing a shortage of long-term rental properties for residents and local employees.

“This whole discussion is to get the ball rolling,” Nystrom said.

c.bessette@theday.com