By Curt Peterson
Following a public hearing, the Woodstock Select Board narrowly approved short-term rental regulations by a vote of 3-2 on Jan. 21.
The new bylaw requires owners of short-term rental properties to register them and pay a short-term rental fee of $115 per property, plus $100 per guest room, Woodstock Town Planner Michael Brands told the Mountain Times.
A short-term rental is a property rented to a tenant for fewer than 30 days. The new law limits to 10 the number of times in a year the short-term rental may be rented. If the owner occupies the building while it is being rented, the limit is 15. During foliage season, a minimum two-night stay doesn’t apply.
Owners in five-acre residential and short-term rental zones may rent 15 times per year, with a two-night minimum. If the owner occupies the building during the rental, it is exempt from all short-term rental limits.
The regulation is not intended to prevent owners from taking advantage of the growing demand for short-term rental accommodations, but rather to prevent short-term rentals from changing the “residential character of the area” by creating “a nuisance.”
Brands said specifics of the regulation came from public meetings and conversations with residents, including neighbors of short-term rentals who “have had issues.”
Resident Patrick Proctor said during the hearing he feels there are too many short-term rentals owned by part-time residents accepting guests for the income. Susan
Fuller, who lives in South Woodstock, said short-term rentals bring people to the area, and discourage owners from getting the extra income may force them to sell, leaving empty houses.
Other requirements for a short-term rental permit include satisfactory fire safety inspection by Woodstock’s fire chief, a two-persons per bedroom occupancy, six-person maximum per household, adequate legal parking, rubbish removal, posted notice of rules regarding rubbish, parking and noise.
The regulation prohibits “weddings, parties, catered events,…signs,…and outdoor activities between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.”
The owner or a manager and contact information must be identified and be available within 30 minutes at all times, and must file a rental report by Jan. 31.
Failure to perform the duties or to follow the rules can result in revocation of the short-term rental permit and disqualification for a permit for one year.
Brands said the town will be checking the Airbnb site and other sources to check for short-term rentals advertised outside the limitation of the law, and he expects neighbors will report infractions by tenants.
Once a complaint is filed, the zoning officer will issue a letter giving a deadline for compliance or correction indicated, and the fines would begin if that deadline wasn’t met.
Asked the penalty for violating a regulation, Brands said the fine is $200 per day per violation, but, “It is very rare that giving out penalties is needed.”
Woodstock, which boasted a population of 2,932 in 2017, has 65 permitted short-term rentals, although Brands said there are numerous unpermitted.
