This story by Tommy Gardner was first published by the Stowe Reporter on June 22.
Stowe is home to hundreds of short-term rentals that are owned by folks who might not live in town, in Vermont, or in the U.S., making it hard to track them down when something goes awry with one of their properties.
Now, the town is considering strengthening its rental rules and creating a registry of all the places people rent out for short stints on places like Airbnb, Vrbo and a growing number of other booking platforms.
Some people, however, say such actions would amount to governmental overreach when it comes to someone’s private property.
At last week’s selectboard meeting, board chair Lisa Hagerty said, after listening to several groups of people with varied opinions on short-term rentals, she thinks it’s prime time to talk about a registry and a new ordinance.
“I think that we need to take some action,” Hagerty said.
Hard to reach?
Town Manager Charles Safford said his staff wants more data available about short-term rentals in town, and one way to get that data is to have a registry of all such units — he said there are roughly 825 residential units that would be covered by a registry and ordinance.
It is unclear how many of the people who own those units in Stowe live in Stowe or anywhere close.
Stowe fire chief Scott Reeves described “a growing issue” with people staying in any of the hundreds of short-term rentals in town, especially when the owner is nowhere to be found and doesn’t have a property manager available.
In a recent memo to Safford, Reeves said firefighters are not only getting called out to homes without owners living in them, but they are being denied access to places they need to get to in emergencies. They are often met with hapless renters unprepared for a crisis.
Among Reeves’ observations:
— Renters often don’t know how to use fireplaces or woodstoves. Often, Reeves said, they forget or don’t know to open the flue, filling the home or apartment with smoke.
“There were a few incidents in which the fireplace had special quirks to them, like only using two logs at a time, and the renters were never informed of these special instructions,” he added.
— If renters do trip a fire alarm, they quickly discover in many instances that the property owner failed to leave the alarm codes needed to reset the alarm. In some cases, the crews have had to disable alarms and lend the renters a new one from the fire department.
“This increases the time the crew is on scene, as the officer must try and contact the owner or management company,” Reeves said. “At 2 a.m., there seems to be a lot of reluctance for someone to answer the phone.”
— Some renters lock off the utility rooms in their rentals, leaving firefighters responding to an emergency with little choice other than forcing the door open.
“I had a homeowner call and they complained about the damage that was caused after the crew had to use these techniques,” Reeves said
— In some situations where the propane or home heating source had to be shut down, renters and officers couldn’t reach the owner or management company to arrange it. Sometimes, the management company has told them they just rent the place and don’t deal with maintenance.
“This puts the officer in a hard position due to the fact there is no one to turn the scene over to assist the renter and make other housing arrangements,” Reeves said.
— He said one Airbnb property owner — one who reportedly had several code violations on record — called the fire department and asked them to bring a ladder over so renters who were locked out could crawl in through a second-floor window. Reeves said when he declined and suggested the owner call a locksmith, the owner threatened to go on social media and say the fire department would not help.
Board member Jo Sabel Courtney said reading Reeves examples “raises the hair on the back of my neck,” and informed her sense of responsibility for people’s safety.
Said Courtney, “The public safety issue is concerning, if you’ve got a house with nobody but a lock box, and you’ve got no one within two hours away, or ever, or if they don’t answer the phone, because who’s going to answer the phone at 2 a.m.”
Overreach?
Town attorney Joe McLean said short term rentals are permissible in towns because places that are zoned for residential use are still residential no matter who’s staying there.
“Zoning regulations in Stowe, as in other places, focus primarily on permitting land development,” McLean said. “It doesn’t focus on forms of ownership.”
Selectboard member Billy Adams said if safety is the primary driver in creating a registry, then that should be the driver for all rentals, short or long term.
He said, as a tourist town, lodging — whether through traditional means like inns and hotels or through residential rentals — has historically played a significant role in the town’s character.
“Stowe has been pretty specific in the fabric and the changes through time with their zoning that identified that part of this community has been the guest and how the guest has been lodging,” Adams said.
He said the town relaxed its zoning bylaws about five years ago when it was pointed out that the estimated 600-plus short-term rentals in town at the time were “basically in violation of Stowe zoning bylaws,” because they were being rented out for less than a week, which would make them more analogous to lodging facilities. So, the select board struck out any time restrictions.
An ordinance would swing the pendulum the other direction and could include fines for people who do not register their rental properties.
Safford said the process for adopting a short-term rental ordinance would involve either taking a model ordinance as is — he used the town of Woodstock’s ordinance as a foundation — or adding “quality of life or broader dimensions to it,” and warning it for a public hearing, after which it would go into effect.
But not until Jan. 1. That’s because, he said, creating a registry takes time and money — an estimated $82,000 — to make sure it has teeth, and the town could fine property owners who don’t register their rentals.
Attorney Brooke Dingledine said she was concerned about a “three strikes and you’re out” nature of a possible ordinance.
“I’m very concerned about it because it puts the cart before the horse and kind of reminds me of that old joke about the lawyer asking the question, ‘And how many times do you beat your wife?’” Dingledine said. “This is pre-supposing that you folks want to enact an ordinance.”
She said the notion of a short-term registry has value and addresses public health and safety issues, but an ordinance — especially one that would disallow current renters to be grandfathered and continue renting — goes too far.
“It’s akin to prohibition or impairing the property interest to a point where it’s no longer a value for the owner,” she said.
Selectboard member Paco Aumand suggested the board gather public input into a short-term rental ordinance, either by having it as a standing agenda item at future meetings or as part of a dedicated work session, or both.
“We’re making a positive statement that we’re taking this on, we’re going to develop it and move forward,” Aumand said.
