Pittsfield Subcommittee Supports Short-Term Rental Zoning Amendment
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is closer to defining its regulations on short-term rentals and, in turn, being able to keep track of them.
On Monday, the Ordinances and Rules supported a zoning amendment for short-term rentals that outlines basic requirements. It was amended to include a nine-month grace period for existing short-term rentals, rather than six months.
"The zoning amendment will outline the physical requirements for short-term rentals, stuff like occupancy, parking, days per calendar year that you can rent one out, units that it can be in, and units that it can't be in. For example, income-restricted units can't be rented as short-term rentals. If you have any fines against you, you can't rent as a short-term rental," City Planner Kevin Rayner explained.
"We're going to define aspects of short-term rentals and short-term rentals themselves. So short-term rental operators, short-term renters, stuff like that. We're just going to lay a definition out to say what they are."
For zoning, there will be an administrative site plan review process that goes through the DCD for sign off, "So that will hopefully streamline the zoning, and if it needs further review, it will go to the Community Development Board," Rayner said.
He said the code change will create a licensing procedure similar to how the city handles bed and breakfasts and lodging houses, where all are registered with the city clerk. The Licensing Board will be the granting authority and the entity that handles complaints.
The zoning change handles the physical requirements of short-term rentals, and the code change outlines licensing, operation, and enforcement. The process begins with a zoning site plan review, goes to the clerk’s office for a licensing application, and after relevant departments sign off on it, the application goes before the Licensing Board for a public hearing.
There is also an annual renewal process with a small fee.
The city is creating an evidence section to address enforcement, as short-term rentals are not easily identified and often appear as an average residence.
"You can’t really tell that it’s a short-term rental when you’re looking at it from the street. It just looks like a residential property," Rayner said.
Evidence would include a listing on sites like Airbnb and complaints from abutters. Zoning enforcement officers could then compile evidence to determine if a cease and desist is in order.
The police, fire, building, and health departments are identified as the enforcement agencies within their own parameters, and those complaints will get funneled through the Licensing Board, which can then make the decision to revoke, suspend, or do nothing to the license.
Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre recognized that her ward is in the "hot seat" for short-term rentals, as Onota and Pontoosuc Lakes are in the territory.
"When I first took out papers, this was probably the loudest concern I heard, aside from roads, potholes always win, but short-term rentals are really difficult in some of our neighborhoods."
She inquired about the requirements for existing short-term rentals, and Rayner proposed the change from a six-month grace period to nine months, giving property owners time to get in compliance and obtain licensure.
During a workshop with the Community Development Board, he and board members agreed that six months was too short and 12 months was too long. Nine months seemed like a happy middle.
At the beginning of the discussion, resident Sheila Kerber expressed concern about the provision that short-term rental properties must meet all requirements of the current fire safety standards, health standards, and state building code.
"Most of our apartments in town probably don't meet these codes and that's personal experience, because I've been in many of them, so I find that to be somewhat — do we care more about people that come in and stay short-term time visiting Pittsfield than we do for full-time residents? So I do take issue with that," she said.
"Now you want it safe, of course, and I think by virtue of the industry, if a place isn't safe, it's not going to stay in business because the way these businesses operate, they're done on reviews. People leave postings and reviews."
She operates a "mid-term" term rental that offers stays longer than 30 days and is exempt from this ordinance.
"That's a big ask, and I think if we ask that, we have to ask that of all rental properties in the city of Pittsfield," Kerber said.
"And then the other part of it is, I'm not sure how the city staff could even manage investigating that."
Council President Peter White pointed out regular rentals are expected to meet the same requirements.
"It's not the exact same language. However, it does address that inspections are supposed to be done, and the housing code is supposed to be met. So it's there. It's not a one-to-one, but it has the same intent," he said.
"So, a regular rental over 30 days has the same requirements as this. Whether or not it's as often as we would like is questionable, but I believe, from when we debated this years ago, that when an apartment is turned over, it’s supposed to be re-inspected. That does not always happen."
Pittsfield STR Zoning & Code Change by iBerkshires.com
Tags: ordinance & rules , short-term rentals,
