Groton ― As neighboring communities mull how to handle short-term rentals, Noank is in a different position: It’s been more than a year since its zoning commission voted to enforce a prohibition.

After more than two years deliberating on proposed ordinances to STRs, the Noank Zoning Commission in August 2021 voted 5-0 to instead enforce the prohibition, as uses not explicitly allowed in zoning regulations are prohibited.

At the commission meeting last September, chairman Rick Smith said of the more than 20 homes that offered short-term rentals a year ago, almost all but one have stopped, and nobody has been taken to court. But he thinks it’s something the village will always be wrestling with.

“It could be new people who move to town and aren’t aware they can’t do this, haven’t done their due diligence,” Smith said.

Zoning Enforcement Officer Bill Mulholland said zoning commission clerk Janet Sutherland monitors Airbnb and other sites to see if there are listings.

Mulholland explained that he has designed a three-notice system to handle violations. The first is a letter stating it has come to his attention that the person may be operating a commercial enterprise in violation of zoning regulations.

“You are hereby requested to voluntarily comply with the Zoning Regulations by ending all STR use at your property,” the form letter reads. “Failure to comply voluntarily may subject you to formal enforcement proceedings, which can include fines of up to $250 per day. You should modify all STR website listings that offer the property for rent to require a minimum 30-night rental period and only accept rental contracts that comply with that requirement.”

Mulholland ends the letter by asking the person to meet with him during his Tuesday evening office hours or send an email to submit their response. He said a second notice would be similar, and the third would be a cease-and-desist order.

Mulholland said he recently sent someone a second notice. Sutherland said there haven’t been any cease-and-desist orders issued since she became clerk at the end of June.

One year later, some reactions remain the same

South Carolina resident Wayne Burdick, part of the fifth of six generations in his family to own a home in Noank, said he rented the waterfront home to one tenant last winter.

“His six-month rental was less money than we were able to get for four weeks in the summertime, and so you can imagine the hit of that is rather severe,” he said. Burdick said it was about $2,500 a month whereas he could rent the home out for $4,600 a week in the summer. He said a six-month rental lined up for this winter fell through and he’s “scurrying to see if we can find somebody else.”

Burdick said last year that short-term rentals helped defray more than $40,000 a year in taxes, insurance and maintenance on the house, which he wants to keep in the family. He said last week that figure might now be conservative due to chimney and dock repairs.

Multiple family members use the home during the summer, and he said nobody ever asked if they were renters or not.

Carson’s Store owner Andrew Blacker said last year he was against any type of short-term rental regulation, saying the restaurant needs the extra business.

He was measured last week in his assessment of the impact from the past year. He sees both sides: He wishes people could occupy houses that are empty eight or nine months of the year, but he also said short-term rentals affected the amount of available housing and he’s being priced out of Noank.

Blacker said when traditional bed and breakfasts got pushed aside, he financially benefited from “selling breakfast in a place where we’re pretty much the only place to get breakfast around.” And he wants Noank to stay mixed-use, not just residential.

He’s noticed fewer unfamiliar faces and has seen a negative impact on business from lack of short-term renters. But he added Carson’s is a small spot and is at capacity a lot of times anyway.

“In no way do I want to sound like I’m complaining about (the decision),” Blacker said. He thinks the Zoning Commission is doing the best it can, and said with limited staff, an outright ban is easier to enforce than regulations that come with bureaucratic work.

This summer in Noank, Blacker also opened Palmer’s Provisions and Pizza, and Zest Fresh Pastry opened another bakery.

Elisabeth Pendery was one of the vocal opponents of short-term rentals, and she said in conversations with neighbors this past summer, “We feel like Noank is a lot more relaxed … There’s less traffic, it’s quieter, and there’s less anxiety.”

After spending recent years feeling anxiety over whether homes changing hands would become short-term rentals, she now feels “people are more trusting of their new neighbors, that there’s no ulterior motives.”

Pendery said she has been renting out her unit downstairs at a below-market rate to the same tenant for the past three years.

Short-term rentals “provide a benefit for a very small sector of the population, just those individuals getting that income,” she said, “but they have a tremendous impact against the wellbeing of a community because they take away what would otherwise be available housing.”

e.moser@theday.com