COUNCILORS WRESTLE WITH WALSH AIRBNB PLAN
City councilors are split on Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s plans for strictly regulating short-term rentals, and some are siding with Airbnb operators as the controversial law moves toward a possible showdown tomorrow.
At a jam-packed hearing yesterday, councilors and residents questioned Walsh’s plan, which would eliminate “investor units” — people renting properties they own but do not live in. And while a person who lives in a multifamily could rent out their unit year-round, they could rent an additional unit for only 120 days.
City housing officials said the restrictions were necessary to stop property owners from evicting long-term renters in favor of Airbnb renters and to increase long-term rental options. Councilors like East Boston’s Lydia Edwards and Chinatown’s Ed Flynn said their neighborhoods are under siege.
But councilors outside of the downtown area called for caution, saying the changes could hurt short-term rental operators in their areas, and pushed back on the regulations. Dorchester’s Frank Baker slammed the possibility of a quick vote on Walsh’s proposal, which has stricter regulations than an earlier version.
“We sat through these working sessions and this came back more restrictive than the last one. You didn’t listen to people that said they weren’t comfortable with this,” Baker said. “Now it looks like you’re trying to jam through a vote on Wednesday. I’m not comfortable with any of this.”
“Manipulating the system is a real concern,” said Councilor Andrea Campbell of Mattapan. “I don’t want us to pass something on a lot of assumptions.”
At-Large Councilor Michael Flaherty, who is overseeing the debate and could call for a vote tomorrow, said he was not sure what his recommendation will be.
“At the end of the day we’re trying to build consensus,” Flaherty said, defining that as two-thirds of the council coming together. “Based on testimony here, even the council is divided, several wanting to move forward with what’s been put forth on Wednesday and others asking for more time. It may make some sense to hold off.”
“We will continue to work with the City Council as this proposal moves through their process,” Walsh spokeswoman Nicole Caravella said in a statement.
But advocates for Walsh’s plan called for quick action.
“We’re not going to arrive at a situation where 100 percent of constituents are going to be happy; it’s just not going to happen. The urgency ... outweighs the need for unanimous consensus,” said At-Large Councilor Michelle Wu. “I’m not sure an extra several months of delay will really move anyone in one direction or another.”
“I think we’re at a place where we found a good compromise,” said city housing chief Sheila Dillon. “We’ve been working really hard on this for over two years. It’s hard to say with all that public process that this is moving too quickly.”