Rockport voters will consider two questions on the November ballot, including Article 3 seeking approval of a rental housing unit ordinance.
“It came about as a response to the feedback that we got on the board from town folks about regulating short-term rentals,” Planning Board Chair Jeffrey Leclair said. “Although what’s on the article right now is not a short-term rental regulation.”
He also indicated that the proposed ordinances have been in the works for a few years.
The ordinance will require that any rental or housing unit be registered every year with an initial inspection needed the first year to make sure it meets health and safety requirements.
A group of local property owners argued in the meeting that the regulations restrict property rights and are intrusive. In addition, they stress that the town has already rejected short-term regulations at the polls and questioned the transparency of the rollout of the proposed ordinances.
Clare Tully said she felt the ordinance changes were rushed onto the ballot.
“They’re so intrusive,” she said of the proposed regulations. “It tells us how often to take out the trash!”
“This is not Camden,” she said. “We don’t want to pay registration fees.”
Short-term rental owners argue these rentals are often used so that property owners can afford their high property taxes.
The often-cited victory at the polls in the effort against short-term rental regulation came in June 2021. Residents were asked in a non-binding question if they would support an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals in the community, and it was voted down by a margin of 407-194. It was noted at the meeting last week that more than 2,000 are expected to vote in Rockport in the November election.
Select Board Chair Denise Munger said Oct. 13 this was a Planning Board initiative, not the work of the Select Board, to which some present at the meeting argued that the Select Board voted to put it on the ballot.
In an opinion piece, Leclair explained the intent of the proposed changes. “We’re doing this to fill a hole in our enforcement of life safety in dwelling units. …Our current Land Use Ordinance lacks an effective enforcement mechanism for rental housing. Already all commercial lodging (such as inns, hotels and motels), all newly constructed homes or additions, and all multi-family homes are inspected before use, and this amendment augments the ordinance to ensure that every renter in town is sleeping in a unit that meets basic life safety code.”
Opponents of the measure argued there is a difference between a small in-home unit and a hotel or inn that has multiple rooms, parking lots and other amenities.
There was some debate during the meeting about whether the new ordinance would categorize all short-term rentals as commercial operations.
Munger said in an email that town attorney Phillip Saucier reviewed the proposed amendment and noted that “Short Term Rental” is already a defined use and it’s reasonable to include it in the Land Use tables of Section 917.
“Although the proposed amendment places ‘Short Term Rental’ within the Commercial Use table of Section 917.C, that placement does not change the residential nature of a dwelling unit used as a Short Term Rental. Subsequently, no other restrictions would be automatically imposed on Short Term Rentals merely because they are listed on the Commercial table in the Land Use Ordinance.”
Town officials said in the meeting the goal was actually to make short-term rentals an identified allowed use in much of the town, but this inclusion led to the concern about their being defined as commercial. If voters approve Article 2, Munger said, short-term rentals would be formally allowed in all zoning districts except industrial, which in Rockport consist of the property occupied by Midcoast Solid Waste.
Resident Ben Lance asked in the meeting when the new law would go into effect if it were approved. Munger said that was to be determined. Lance pressed, asking if the officials didn’t know when the effective date was.
“I’m not going to answer that question,” Munger said. “I’m going to let the town lawyer…”
At that point there was some laughter in the audience.
“You guys can laugh,” Munger said, “but look, we’re doing our best to listen to you and be judicious.”
Lance said, “I wasn’t trying to give you a hard time.”
“No, you are,” Munger said.
If the ordinance change is approved, property owners will have to contact the Town Office to apply for a certificate of occupancy, according to Leclair. The code enforcement officer will conduct a life safety inspection and the fee is $100. “There is no ongoing schedule for inspections required by this amendment.”
“The inspection is to ensure the adequacy of systems already in place, namely required smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, potable water, heating, wastewater and egress,” the Planning Board chair said. “Things like electrical upgrades are not required if the systems legally existed prior to code requirements (‘grandfathered’).”
One of the loudest voices speaking out against the ordinance changes is Ethan Jones of Warrenton Street, who argues the changes do categorize short-term rentals as commercial and notes that there is no set fee schedule in the proposed ordinance. In addition, Tully had noted that Camden’s rental registration fees are higher.
Jones has also been involved in a dispute with the town on another matter, as a property owner on Warrenton Street who opposes the plan to put in a multipurpose path on the street.
“Ladies and gentlemen, there is no need to pass Articles 2 & 3,” Jones wrote in a letter to the editor as rebuttal to Leclair’s piece. “Homeowners do not want or need a new, expensive town bureaucracy. But there is a need to preserve freedom and to defend property rights. As the saying goes, ‘Once they’re gone, they’re gone.’”
One of the residents speaking out against the ordinance changes at the meeting warned the Select Board, “You’re going to see a lot more ‘no’s’ from people.”
A last-minute campaign against the ordinance articles has been launched with signs posted around town urging residents to vote the measures down.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.