VRMA Administrator
The City Council of Newburyport, Massachusetts, voted to continue discussing the proposed regulation of short-term rental units on Sept. 12. Both Ward 5 Councilor Jim McCauley and Council President Heather Shand sponsored zoning amendments to regulate the city's approximately 200 short-term rental units in specific districts. Rental owners would be required to live in their units for at least 183 days a year under the proposed amendments, and the properties would also have to be primarily used as single-family, two-family, or multifamily homes. Guests would be permitted to stay for a maximum 31 days in a short-term rental, and each unit must be registered with the state and city, with the exception of units on Plum Island. Councilors were split over Councilor at large Connie Preston's proposal to offer amnesty to investor-owned properties operating in the city as of May 31. Public comments from residents during the meeting included Robert Glendon's argument that short-term rentals make up for a lack of local hotels, commenting that the business "brings in a lot of revenue, there are a lot of taxes that come out of short-term rentals and help the city's budget and, for some people, it is their livelihood." Fellow resident Jacob Cross called the proposed regulations tantamount to a ban on short-term rentals, and suggested Newburyport should at least grandfather the state-registered units.
Yahoo! News (08/31/22) Jim Sullivan
