Newburyport residents call for strict enforcement of short-term rentals

Sep. 8—NEWBURYPORT — The City Council heard an earful from residents concerned about short-term rentals last week and two of those homeowners want to make sure the proposed regulations for those units have plenty of teeth.

The council is expected to resume discussion of the issue Monday night at City Hall.

Ward 5 Councilor Jim McCauley and council President Heather Shand have co-sponsored zoning amendments designed to regulate the city's short-term rental units in specific districts.

McCauley and Shand's ordinance went before the council for a vote Aug. 29 but the matter was continued until Sept. 12 after Councilor at large Connie Preston submitted amendments that would offer amnesty to investor-owned properties, among other changes.

Longtime residents Kevin Bannigan of Middle Street and Kathy Seekamp of Liberty Street both spoke out against short-term rentals before the council Aug. 29.

On Wednesday, the duo came to The Daily News' office to say their neighborhood has been turning into a giant, campus-based motel over the past four years.

Bannigan said he has noticed a pattern every Monday through Thursday where cars with out-of-state license plates are parked on Middle Street and in the surrounding area.

"These are the boyfriends, girlfriends and families of the people renting these short-term rentals. We're not even talking about the renters at this point," he said.

Seekamp has been living on Liberty Street since the mid-1970s and said she no longer feels comfortable in her own neighborhood.

"I used to know everybody on my street and, suddenly, I don't know anybody," she said.

Short-term renters come from outside the community and have no interest in adding to a place they are just passing through, Bannigan added.

"These are not taxpayers and they don't support the local nonprofits and the arts and theaters or the schools and we, as the taxpayers, don't get any consideration because the city is just chasing the dollars," he said.

The proposed zoning amendments, which require property owners to register their short-term rentals with the city and the state, do not go far enough in regulating the issue, Bannigan said.

"Who's going to monitor all this and count the days and follow up with everything? This is going to be a full-time job. Even with licensing, there is no teeth to these regulations. There are no fines. So you pay your lousy licensing fee when you register and that's it," he said.

McCauley said he has heard complaints similar to Bannigan's and has sponsored a companion ordinance that would need to go to the city's Licensing Board, if and when the zoning amendments are approved by the City Council.

McCauley added that the zoning amendments would create rules regulating short-term rentals, while the companion ordinance would designate how the rules would be enforced.

"We need to finalize the rules first," he said. "This would lay out the rules, the penalties, the enforcement and the appeals process. We haven't brought them together because we haven't figured out what the rules are yet."

The Licensing Board would also be given the authority to issue a license to a property owner looking to add a short-term rental, according to McCauley.

"They will make sure that everybody checks off the rules and have a public hearing on it. Then, they would issue a license to be able to do it," he said. "If somebody goes against the license, then they can pull it. We also put in fines and enforcement and things like that."

Bannigan also said he wants to see the city closely monitor its short-term rental units and would like to see the properties registered as either hotels or another similar business.

"That way, you can charge the hotel taxes and put more money into the city. Frankly, I would rather see no regulations than open season on these things," he said.

McCauley said he and fellow councilors have been looking at hiring a third-party company, such as Granicus, which would monitor and enforce short-term rentals.

"They would set up a hotline so that people could call 24 hours a day and it would tie into the requirements for licensing so that the owner of the short-term rental would have x amount of time to contact the people there and get any issue resolved," he said.

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.