Town considers ‘hybrid’ option for short-term rentals

NEW MILFORD — With more homeowners locally and nationally renting out their properties online, town officials are discussing its options for regulating Airbnb, Vrbo and other shortterm rentals in New Milford.

The use of online platforms for short-term rentals has surged over the past decade, with more than 2.4 million listings available across the country last year, according to the research firm AirDNA. In New Milford, over 1,000 homes are listed as short-term rentals on Airbnb and Vrbo — many of which are waterfront properties on Candlewood

Lake.

While New York City, New Orleans and some other popular tourist destinations have enacted restrictions and bans or required licenses for shortterm rental properties, most towns in Connecticut have yet to address the issue through ordinances or zoning rules.

But 26 towns and cities in the state have adopted some type of regulation, “including outright bans,” on Airbnb rentals, Town Attorney Randy DiBella said at the Town Council meeting on Monday, April 22.

Hartford, Kent, Fairfield, Canton, Woodstock and Newington are among the municipalities with Airbnb regulations in place, according to the

Southeastern Connecticut Council of Government website.

State lawmakers proposed a bill in February designed to empower cities and towns to license short-term rentals through ordinances and to hire consultants to develop those ordinances. This would give municipalities the ability to control short-term rentals such as Airbnbs “in a uniform way,” DiBella said at the meeting.

DiBella recommended New Milford consider a “hybrid” ordinance that would regulate the schedules and inspections of short-term rentals while limiting the zoning areas where rentals are allowed. He suggested short-term rentals could be permitted in a multifamily residential zone but not in a single-family zone.

Mayor Pete Bass has suggested the town look into rental permits and application fees for rental hosts along with any possible parking issues and safety issues, among other factors, DiBella said.

Bass suggested the town look at a “hybrid possibility” for regulating short-term rentals, and asked DiBella to give the council an update.

‘Waking up to strangers’

DiBella also acknowledged concerns raised by residents about shortterm rentals in their neighborhoods.

One problem that “comes up continually” is the idea that some residences are “used for commercial” purposes, DiBella said at the meeting. He also shared concerns raised about possible “constitutional issues” such as “the ability to contract with individuals” to allow short-term rentals.

Most Airbnb rentals have been established in residential zones because residents are either renting out their garage apartments or a section of their homes, said Katy Francis, vice chair of the Town Council.

“The owner of these homes didn’t buy the home to live there — they bought it to make money on it,” Francis said. “If it isn’t owner-occupied, is it really akin to a hotel or a motel?”

At least one resident voiced concerns at the meeting about the impact of Airbnb rentals in their neighborhood. Elizabeth Hendrick said she is concerned about the lack of Airbnb regulations and permitting in town, especially given that her property on Second Hill Road is near a house that is used as an AirBnb rental.

“Waking up to strangers every weekend as it gets rerented is not my idea of comfort and security,” Hendrick said, saying she’s not comfortable “not knowing who’s the stranger next door every weekend as it’s being rented. … I don’t want to live next to a business — I want to have a neighbor across the way.”