At their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 17, the planning board reviewed a draft bylaw from the short-term rental committee which would limit residents to one short term rental property per person, with 12 weeks total allowed to be rented on a short-term basis.
The West Tisbury planning board will seek public input on a prospective town short-term rental regulation, two years after forming a subcommittee to explore the issue.
At their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 17, the planning board reviewed a draft bylaw from the short-term rental committee which would limit residents to one short term rental property per person, with 12 weeks total allowed to be rented on a short-term basis.
The draft would also institute a minimum rental period of one week and require people who rent out properties to reside there for at least one month.
After failing to come to a consensus on a draft bylaw last year, committee member Bea Phear said their mission was reinvigorated after reports from realtors “beginning to get calls from potential investors who wanted to buy investment property for rentals.”
John Rau, another committee member, said the town had to institute a short-term rental bylaw for them to be allowed under current zoning.
“Short term rentals like this are a commercial use,” he said. “Unless your bylaws say something permitting or prohibiting short term rentals…they are illegal. So, we’ve got to do something. We can’t just let things sit as they are.”
The planning board did not vote on the issue but agreed to hold a public meeting to gather input on the bylaw in November.
Comments
Looking forward to seeing
Business101Looking forward to seeing these bylaws go in front of town meetings island wide. The sooner the better, so they can be voted down and we can move on. The shoulder seasons are crucial to the islands businesses and nobody comes for a week. Not to mention, working class families rarely get a week at anytime of year anymore. This would be another step towards pricing out the average family from enjoying MV. Every layer of regulation inches us closer to a private island. Hold employers accountable for housing staff and the housing issue will dissolve. Of course, limit short term rentals and the economy dissolves so pick your poison.
I agree!!! This is outrageous
Jean WTI agree!!! This is outrageous!
I am not one to comment, but
Bill WTI am not one to comment, but I am appalled. This is not ok.
Absolutely! Working class
Washashore UpislandAbsolutely! Working class families depend on short-term rentals as does much of the economy of the Island! Don’t limit them in support of the big business hotel industry. Embrace them. Work with them. For many regular class families short-term rentals where they can cook meals and stay with the whole family make vacations more affordable. While at the same time helping local island families. Be smart West Tisbury. Don’t fall victim to big business innuendo.
I do not advocate following
Washashote UpislandI do not advocate following Boston’s new regulations on short term rentals at all, but at least they carved out an exception for Boston residents that let them not only rent out their main residence for part of the year, but also one other residence. So if a year round resident wanted to they could rent out their main house for the summer and their guest house year round. That would at least offer some protection to working class residence of the island. It would still ultimately Ben if it big businesses and hurt regular people, but less so.
The fastest and cleanest way
Business101The fastest and cleanest way to create a large pool of workforce rentals is to inspect for health, safety and zoning. Charge a fee and that will cover the expense to the towns. Hundreds of listings would no longer meet those simple criteria. Basement apartments for example rarely meet zoning and we don’t enforce their existence in any meaningful way. They were always workforce housing along with lots of “creative” units before sites like weneedavacation etc. This could be implemented prior to the start of 2024 season with very little effort and it uses the laws that already exist.
You got to be joking?? You
Thomas WTYou got to be joking?? You can’t have these types of restrictions on private party. The Town makes a lot of money on the short term rentals.
This is unfortunate. I rent
Mary WTThis is unfortunate. I rent my home to support my self. I am a senior, Now I can’t do this?? This is not right. I can see limiting folks who rent rooms etc Air BNB but not folks who rely on this income to live.
I totally agree with you that
Washashore UpislandI totally agree with you that this plan would hurt regular island residents. However Air B and B is not the enemy. They actually help regular people be able to find renters for their properties. It’s actually a really good thing for regular people like ourselves. If you have to find an enemy on the rental side (not that I agree that they are so), but it would more likely be big businesses who buy up properties for short term rentals. Not platforms like Air B and B that help regular homeowners rent out their properties.
This really is appalling!
David WTThis really is appalling! People like myself and other older folks rely on some income to support living on the Island. This is a way to push the seniors out! Not fair come on Selectman do something please! This is not right!
What??? Good luck! This is a
Jim WTWhat??? Good luck! This is a complete over reach into private ownership. What about all that tax revenue the Town has been receiving?? I get you can’t over crowding etc…. But to limit to 12 weeks and it has to be over a week rental?? Really? Common sense please!
Thank you WT planning board
Resident MVThank you WT planning board for preparing these regulations. Short term rentals are a commercial use and should be restricted in residential zones. They drive up real estate values making housing unaffordable, and they turn the island into a party zone. I only wish they would prohibit short term rentals completely.
I do not like this one bit! I
Cathy West TisburyI do not like this one bit! I don’t rent my house out, but I sure as heck don’t want the Town telling me I can’t of for certain periods or whatever. This is my private property!
Our economy is dependent on
Rational Person OAK BLUFFSOur economy is dependent on vacationers. No matter what job you have it's exists to support a tourist economy. Maybe not directly but you wouldn't have a job here if it wasn't for the tourist economy. That includes teachers, police, nurses, doctors, municipal employees etc. and almost everyone else.
I wholeheartedly agree with
Mark VHI wholeheartedly agree with this bylaw and support its passing. For too long, people have taken advantage of owning on the island purely because they can rent their homes every week, price gouging, etc., to keep said home and make an income to stay on the island. They can't have both...you cant live in the home in the off-season and then take off during the hot summer months and make a ton of money off the same property. They have to decide. Is it a home, or is it an income property? Make a choice. Otherwise, I hope this bylaw passes and then passes in every town on the island.
People: this is going too far
WT residentPeople: this is going too far by any stretch. Plus it seems so angry, irrational and shot gun style with its multiple “solutions”. What is the intended purpose of these restrictions? That is not clearly expressed. I agree with other comments: I don’t think these types of restrictions can be put on private property. How is this WT plan going to help to house seasonal workers and those workers who cannot find affordable housing? Good government requires carefully thought out planning. I don’t see that here. I do understand the alarm when off island investors are trying to purchase properties for rentals. That would totally change the residential character of the town. But wouldn’t that use be an intended commercial use of property which is already restricted by zoning bylaws? Finally, I would like to see some public accounting offered to town residents and tax payers concerning how the tax monies towns are collecting from short term rentals are being used. Where is that accounting info? My understanding is that Chilmark is the only town making some effort to use the rental tax funds for affordable housing. And those efforts are limited. I think to make a dent in the rental housing shortage, all the tax money should go into an affordable housing pot, some of which could be handled by two or more towns in a consortium. I know cooperation between towns woujd be difficult, but it is the fastest way to make a real dent in the shortage of affordable housing. Let’s cut the hand wringing on affordable housing which makes some people feel good about themselves but gets us nowhere. Lack of affordable housing, not people renting their private homes, is THE problem. Let’s get something done about it..
November 3, 2023 - 3:45pm
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