A Windsor Planning Commission discussion about changes to the town’s short-term vacation rental ordinance lasted nearly three hours and ended with the matter being continued to the commission’s next meeting later this month.
The meeting, held Tuesday night, drew testimony from companies and individuals interested in or already renting out their property who have a stake in what the commission recommends to the Town Council.
The council will have the ultimate say over how the amended ordinance reads.
Top on commissioners’ minds was the possibility that companies could purchase large numbers of homes or condominiums in Windsor and rent them out like hotels on a short-term basis in the downtown area or in residential neighborhoods. Such entities would have no interest in the town or keeping its family-friendly atmosphere, they said.
“We don’t want corporations buying our housing inventory and driving our house prices up and renting them out,” said Evan Zelig, commission chair.
They also said they want to make sure the single-family homeowner who wants to rent out a bedroom has the same chance in the market as those who own several properties.
Commissioners discussed softening regulations on hosted rentals, in which the owner lives in the house or in an auxiliary dwelling unit on the property, and strengthening them for non-hosted homes, where landlords live elsewhere.
“It makes no sense for hosted rentals to have limits on the number of days they can rent per year,” commented Commissioner Jeffrey Leasure.
There was debate about how many bedrooms can be rented in a home and the number allowed per neighborhood. The commission opted to recommend removing “vacation” from the short-term rental ordinance title, because bedrooms are often rented for business purposes, such as traveling nurses.
Commissioners made suggestions about changes to the proposed draft ordinance and also required new information, so the item was continued.
At the moment, short-term rentals have no restrictions other than a requirement for a fire safety inspection and a business license. No transit occupancy tax is now collected, as it is for hotels and motels.
A survey conducted in June by the town elicited 1,200 responses, with 64% saying yes, they wanted short-term rentals to be allowed, and 36% saying no.
The Planning Commission will talk about the issue again Jan. 25 at 5:30 p.m.
You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.
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Windsor commission pushes short-term rental deliberations - North Bay Business Journal
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