Hampton approves 3 short-term rentals
City plans to monitor effectiveness of use permit conditions
HAMPTON — The City Council approved its first batch of short-term rental permits on Wednesday since overhauling the permitting process, which city staff plan to monitor over the summer months to assess how well the new regulations are working.
The council approved three short-term rental use permit applications — for homes located at 230 N. Fifth St., 826 N. First St. and 8 Findley St. The three locations are in entirely separate areas of the city.
These were the first applications approved since the council voted in December to require all short-term rentals — such as those through Airbnb or Vrbo — to have a use permit and a business license. The panel also in December got rid of a previous requirement saying short-term rentals were only allowed as an “accessory use” to a home that is primarily a residence.
In the months following the December vote, amid an onslaught of use permit applications, the council and city staff have been discussing ways to regulate short-term rentals and what types of conditions they would like to see included in use permit applications.
At the direction of the City Council and Planning Commission in March, city staff restarted work with a stakeholder group involving community members, shortterm rental operators, a bed and breakfast operator, a representative of the local hotel industry and real estate agents to discuss necessary and appropriate baseline use permit conditions.
Director of Community Development Bonnie Brown said use permits allow the Planning Commission and City Council to consider each operation on a case-by-case basis and to apply the appropriate conditions given the specific details of the property and location.
Brown said the stakeholder group agreed on general conditions they would like to see applied to most short-term rentals. These conditions are just general guidelines, as exceptions can be made for specific applications.
For example, one condition suggested by the stakeholder group is the designation of a “responsible local person” to oversee each short-term rental and to respond to concerns. The person would be responsible for addressing problems or potential use violations.
Some conditions the stakeholder group recommended for use permits include:
■ The short-term rental operator must provide a floor plan showing the evacuation plan, the location of bedrooms, smoke detectors and similar safety features. The plan must be posted in a central location with the use permit conditions and responsible local person contact information for lodgers.
■ Prohibiting events, with some potential exceptions made depending on the appropriateness of the location and specific application.
■ Requiring parking on site at the same ratio as a bed and breakfast, which is approximately one parking space for every two bedrooms. A garage may be counted toward parking if the operator permits lodgers to use the garage during a stay.
■ Prohibiting exterior signage for a short-term rental.
■ The short-term rental operator must maintain a guest register, which will be made available to the Zoning Administrator upon request within 24 hours. The register does not need to include the names of all individuals staying at the rental but does need to have the primary person’s name, the dates of stay and the total number of lodgers.
The stakeholder group also recommended that capacity limitations be based on the particular short-term rental dwelling.
Brown said city staff and stakeholders will monitor how these first few use permit applications approved Wednesday will operate during the summer to see how effective the conditions are. Other applications may be approved this summer with the recommended conditions.
City spokesperson Robin McCormick said about 10 applications will likely move forward in June and a few more are being processed. Prior to enacting the new rules, the city estimated there were about 370 short-term rentals in Hampton.
Later this year, the city plans to use these applications to determine what future changes there should be like going forward.
During Wednesday’s meeting, City Manager Mary Bunting told the council the stakeholder group may consider further changes to how short term rentals are approved. One method being considered would have short-term rentals be approved administratively instead of through the City Council.
Hampton resident Nancy Kearney raised concerns about the city not having a limit on the number of short-term rentals allowed in one neighborhood.
“Is there a limit,” she asked. “Or can they just take over an entire neighborhood?”
City Council member Martha Mugler said she feels the city is doing a good job of creating guardrails to monitor short-term rentals. However, she agreed that concerns about the number of short-term rentals allowed within one neighborhood is “valid.” She said the city should find a way to monitor the volume of short-term rentals being approved.