West Tisbury formed a new committee this week to oversee short-term rentals and town officials are searching for new members. 

The short-term rental committee was created after town meeting last month passed limits on vacation rentals. The town is the first on the Island to create a bylaw on the controversial properties. 

The select board Wednesday gave the committee the green light to start meeting, and it has been tasked with coming up with rules for rentals, which have a long history in town but have raised concerns about the loss of year-round housing.

The committee hopes to focus on researching possible fee structures to then bring back to the select board. 

“[Our next task is] to research what’s available in terms of these commercial outlets and  finding out exactly what they do and how much they charge and whether they would be appropriate for us,” member Bea Phear told the select board Wednesday.

Current members include Ms. Phear, John Rau, Karen Overtoom and Sheila Morris. The town is looking for three more members to round out the committee.  

West Tisbury’s new bylaw allows homeowners to only rent one property as a short-term rental and it requires owners to live in the home for at least 30 days. The town also has a minimum rental period of two nights and it requires the homes be owned by an actual person. Limited liability companies and other ownership structures are allowed if every owner is a “natural person.”