Stonington -- Five years after town officials decided not to enforce what initially appeared to be the town's prohibition of short-term rentals in residential zones, they are now considering possibly regulating the increasingly popular practice. 

First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough has announced the town will hold a series of "community conversations" this summer beginning Monday, June 20, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Velvet Mill at 22 Bayview Ave. The flyer for the event states it will "offer opportunities for residents to share their ideas for how Stonington can work to ensure a fair and balanced approach to short-term rentals."

The forums come as other southeastern Connecticut communities such a Groton, Ledyard and Noank decide how to deal with short-terms rentals listed on sites such as Airbnb and VRBO. This has resulted in complaints from some residents about noise, parties and traffic from what they say are commercial operations in residential neighborhoods. Other impacts include a reduction in long-term rental stock and decreasing demand for hotel rooms. 

Chesebrough said last week that she has done a lot of research on the issue and talked to other communities about how they are dealing with it. She said she hopes town officials will get some good ideas from residents at the forums that they can then include in proposed regulations. She stressed the town has not yet developed a proposed regulation. One could be presented at the second or third forum.

"There are no easy answers but we have the time to now to take it on," she said during last week's Board of Selectmen's meeting. "We're not going to fix it right now but we can take some steps that will lead to solution."

Steps being taken in communities across the country include making owners of short-term rentals register their operation, obtain a permit or be subject to some sort of taxation or fines.  

Chesebrough said her office does receives complaints about short term rentals but it "ebbs and flows." She also pointed out that income from short-term rentals helps some homeowners afford their taxes and mortgage payments.  

In December 2016, a large crowd of short-term renters and opponents of the practice attended a Planning and Zoning Commission forum to tell members how they felt about the practice. One Masons Island homeowner told the commission that his neighbor had suggested he might want to leave on weekends during the summer because there would groups of people renting his house next door.  

Two months later, the Planning and Zoning Commission decided that the town's zoning regulations do not regulate short-term rentals and it would not enforce the violation notices the town had issued to people who rented out their homes. Former Director of Planning Jason Vincent said at the time it would be up to someone to propose an ordinance to regulate the practice that would then have to be approved by residents at a town meeting.

At the time, planning staff had interpreted existing zoning regulations to mean that short-term 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 Lord's Point and Masons's Island, have been rented to people during the summer months. In recent years, short-term rentals in Mystic have become popular.  

A search on Sunday of Stonington-Mystic rentals available on VRBO for Sept. 10-17 revealed 166 rentals.

Those who can not attend the June 20 forum can send emails to Director of Economic and Community Development Susan Cullen at scullen@stonington-ct.gov or chesebrough at dchesebrough@stonington-ct.gov.

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