Hearing concerns again about the impact of short-term rentals, the Town Council asks the Planning Board to review how other communities handle such properties and report back at a future meeting. #MiddletownRI
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CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com
REVIEW OF SHORT-TERM RENTALS ON THE WAY
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (JANUARY 4, 2023) – The Town Council wants another look at short-term rentals.
Hearing continued concerns about the issue, the council voted unanimously Tuesday night to ask the Planning Board to investigate how other communities have handled short-term rentals (STRs) and report back on its findings at a future session.
The move came after several residents in the Easton’s Point neighborhood outlined their horror stories dealing with non-owner occupied rentals, saying such properties drive up the cost of living in Middletown and take quality housing stock off the market.
The item was on the docket at the request of John Bagwill, an Easton’s Point resident who serves on the town’s Economic Development Advisory Committee.
Renfrew Park resident Kathleen Schafer said after repeated issues, she wonders why she and her neighbors have to deal with the noise, garbage, parking problems and rowdy behavior associated with many STRs.
“They spend six weeks a year here,” Schafer said of one neighboring STR owner. “The rest of the time, they’re in Florida and they use this as a business. We’re here full time. This is our residence. We can’t live like this.”
Fellow neighbor Robert Connerney agreed, saying in his opinion that short-term rentals have ripped apart the fabric of Middletown.
“I want neighbors, not customers,” Connerney said. “I want year-round residents that live here, work here, contribute to the community, contribute to the school system and care about things like we talked about (earlier in the meeting) roads and the rotary. The people that live here care about the community. That’s what you want.”
This is far from the first time the council — and town — has tackled short-term rentals.
With the rise of online booking platforms like AirBnb, Vrbo and countless others, many residential neighborhoods in beautiful communities like Middletown find themselves littered with STRs.
After hearing repeated problems during the summer of 2021, the town stepped up its data collection and enforcement on STRs. Now, the town has two full-time zoning enforcement officers, who help monitor STRs among their other duties for the Building Department.
Last March, the neighboring Newport approved a ban on short-term rentals operating in residential zones in the city.
Resident Lawrence Frank said he’d like to see a similar ban in Middletown too, with caveats. Frank said he’d like to see STRs banned in residential area, except for those that are in owner occupied homes.
He also suggested STRs in non-residential areas be taxed at the town’s commercial tax rate, except for owner occupied units. Frank also said STRs in non-residential areas be required to have the same safety equipment as hotels, such as fire alarms, sprinkler systems, exit signs, more than one way to exit the building, with the exception of owner occupied homes.
“Short-term rentals have done much damage to Middletown,” Frank said. “The economic consequences, the shortage of affordable housing, and the fraying of the social fabric have been visible for some time.”
“If these STR houses were instead occupied by year round residents, those people would be working locally, paying income taxes and contributing to the social fabric of Middletown,” Frank continued. “Instead, by STR’s not paying their fair share, the tax burden is shifted. The hourly wage earner is in actually subsidizing the wealthy short term rental owner. This is wrong. And while this behavior cannot be made illegal, we can certainly adopt regulations that ends that which has so damaged our town.”
A veteran of several of those discussions, council President Paul Rodrigues said he didn’t truly understand the short-term rental situation until the last couple years. That’s when several STRs opened around him, creating quality of life concerns like a bus idling in front of a neighboring home for an hour waiting to pick up people inside heading to a wedding.
“It’s not always (just the problems) that are reported,” Rodrigues said. “It’s the quality of life. What I’ve experienced, and I have a good relationship with the people that own them, but they’re investors.”
Councilwoman Emily Tessier said she thinks non-owner occupied STRs have eliminated the housing stock that her and her peers — and so many more — could rent or buy.
“Maybe as a millennial, me and most of my friends, none of us can afford housing…” Tessier said. “It doesn’t feel right to me that we are seeing all these short-term rentals pop up in the midst of a housing crisis.”
No one spoke against the council’s decision to study STRs again. Councilman Dennis Turano recused himself from the matter as a short-term property owner.
Document Link: https://www.middletownri.com/DocumentCenter/View/6607/NYCU-STR
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