Neighbors said a Westport Airbnb was a nuisance. The town stepped in.

WESTPORT — Zoning officials aim to shut down a large Airbnb that’s been operating since February, bringing relief to harried neighbors but raising broader questions about whether short-term rentals should be allowed in town.

“We’re fed up with this,” said Ana Silvia, who lives adjacent to the Airbnb in question. “We’re very welcoming. But to families, not to party crews.”

The house at 50 Spinnaker Way has drawn the ire of neighbors who say it’s been the site of large and sometimes rowdy parties every weekend for months.

The house was sold in December of 2022 for $805,000. It's now owned by Brenda Hernandez and Roger Andrews, two real estate investors. Hernandez, who owns another home elsewhere in Westport, has the house listed on her Airbnb profile. Her social media shows other Airbnb properties she operates in Georgia.

Earlier this year, neighbors living close to the house on Spinnaker received letters from Hernandez and Andrews saying they planned to rent it out as a “short-term rental for small families to create memories in.”

What the Airbnb listing says about this Westport house

However, residents said social media posts from Hernandez made at the same time advertised the house as a retreat and event space that could host up to 50 people.

The current Airbnb listing says the house can accommodate eight guests. Still, neighbors say they sometimes see 10 or 12 cars parked at the house at once. Some guests speed down quiet roads that usually receive almost no through traffic, making parents fear for the safety of children who are used to playing in the street.

Claims of cars blocking a driveway, swearing and obscene gestures

Anthony Grossi, whose house shares a long driveway with 50 Spinnaker, said guests sometimes block the driveway with their cars.

“If they block any of it, we can’t get down it,” he said.

He set up a sign that says “residents only,” which he says hasn’t deterred guests from sometimes straying onto his property.

Silvia, who also shares a driveway with the house, said she’s had drunk guests swear at her, make obscene gestures, and give her a hard time about moving their cars so she could access her own home. Once, a renter wandered up her part of the driveway and stood staring at her house.

“It’s been a very creepy experience,” she said.

In a neighborhood where many homeowners know each other by name and recognize each other’s cars, the presence of outsiders brings a sense of unease. Alyssa Menard, who owns a home across the street, said she feels uncomfortable letting her young daughter play in the front yard in a swim suit knowing that strangers could potentially be watching her from the Airbnb.

“We bought in this neighborhood for its safety and the neighborhood feel,” she said.

Multiple homeowners in the area stressed that they aren’t opposed to Airbnbs in general, but to the specific way this one has operated, in a residential area with no owner on site.

Some have started displaying lawn signs that read “neighborhoods are for neighbors.”

Rental property owners respond

Hernandez and Andrews pushed back on the allegations from neighbors, saying that visitors have been quiet and respectful.

“We have never observed loud or rude behavior, no partying on the exterior,” said Andrews, adding that they installed security cameras on the property and have instructions for Airbnb guests to observe quiet hours. “Unlike our neighbors, we’re trying to be respectful of them and we’re not trying to disparage them.”

They said there are never more than eight guests at a time at the property, at least overnight, and that a nearby homeowner began a confrontation with a renter, not the other way around.

“It hasn’t been designed to be a party place,” Andrews said.

Andrews and Hernandez said they’ve been unfairly targeted and suggested that the neighbors’ opposition to the Airbnb could have a racial element. Both Andrews and Hernandez are people of color.

“Why us? What is it about us that looks so different that they feel like we don’t have the same rights as everybody else in the town?” Hernandez said. “The neighbors have really manipulated the situation and have utilized the town to continually harass us.”

Town officials step in

Earlier this summer, Westport building commissioner Ralph Souza, who is charged with enforcing zoning laws, issued a cease and desist to the house’s owners on the grounds that the Airbnb was operating as a bed and breakfast and therefore not allowed.

But, the zoning board found at a June meeting that the property did not meet the definition of a bed and breakfast found in the town’s bylaws. Westport bylaws define a bed and breakfast as “a private owner-occupied residence with one to three guestrooms.” The owners of 50 Spinnaker Way do not live at the house, which is a five-bedroom.

At a meeting on Aug. 23, the zoning board voted unanimously to uphold a cease and desist for the Airbnb issued by Souza. He argued that since the house is in an area zoned for residential and agricultural use, short term rentals are not allowed. The board sided with him over the owners' appeal.

“I think it’s very straightforward,” said Chair Roger Menard. “If you read our zoning bylaws, it says if you’re not specifically allowed to do something, then you can’t do it.”

Robert Pellegrini, an attorney for the owners, said at the August meeting that they are “very actively trying to sell” to property and that he sees “the writing is on the wall” as far as the future of the Airbnb operation. Still, he stopped short of committing to the idea of the owners halting rentals while they still own the house.

The owners have until Sept. 12 to appeal the board’s decision. The house is currently for sale, with a listing price of $879,900.

In the meantime, the house is still listed on Airbnb and accepting reservations as of Tuesday afternoon. Andrews and Hernandez said they couldn't comment on future plans around using Airbnb at the property on advice of their lawyer. However, they did stress the the property is for sale.

“Essentially, we’re moving on from this experience," Andrews said.

What’s next for Airbnbs in Westport

The case brings up a larger question of how the town should handle short term rentals like Airbnbs. At a July meeting, the Zoning Board of Appeals appointed two members to a subcommittee tasked with drafting bylaws to regulate short term rentals. Planning Board members will also serve on the subcommittee.

“We really need to shore up this hole in our bylaws,” Menard said.

He said the board began to process of creating such bylaws a few years ago, but other tasks took priority at the time. Currently, around 50 properties in Westport are listed on Airbnb, some owner-occupied and some not.

The board already has a draft bylaw from that initial effort. They still need to iron out several questions including whether the bylaw should require Airbnb operators to live on the property they rent out, Menard said.

The draft bylaw would go before the Planning Board and Selectboard, with the goal of going before town meeting next spring.

“We need to do a balance, I believe, between the rights of the neighborhood and the right of an owner to rent out their property,” Menard said. “There has to be some kind of a balance.”

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Westport upholds cease and desist for controversial Airbnb