BY DAN REIDY BERKSHIRE COUNTY originally published in spectrumnews1.com
LEE, Mass. - The Town of Lee’s Planning Board this week unanimously approved the proposal for a newly written bylaw to regulate short-term rentals of residential properties.
What You Need To Know
The Lee Planning Board is proposing new regulations for short-term rentals in town
Board member Peter Bluhm said some hotel and motel owners voiced opposition against the lack of regulations, and some property owners in Lee who rent were calling for guidelines
Massachusetts defines a short-term rental as a stay of 31 days or less
Lee voters will decide the fate of the newly proposed regulations at a special town meeting sometime this fall
As communities across the state are creating similar rules, planning board vice chair Peter Bluhm said homeowners who have been renting their properties in Lee weren’t sure if they were breaking any laws. Hesaid the current bylaw doesn’t say anything about renting from sites like AirBnB or VRBO because it was written about 50 years ago.
“I think people are wondering whether it's allowed or disallowed and if it's allowed, what are the rules," Bluhm said. "And so, we thought we would be helping everybody out by finding a middle path through the set of rules that people could follow and know that they were within the law.”
Bluhm constructed the proposed regulations, which he said takes influence from neighboring towns like Lenox and Great Barrington, which have short-term rental laws in place.
He pointed out things like the $100 annual registration requirement for short-term rental owners, as well as rules about tents, loud music and exceeding the registered number of occupants to protect Lee neighborhoods from disturbances.
Bluhm said something not being proposed is a limit on how often a stay can be rented. Lenox limits their short-term rentals to 75 days in a year with special exceptions for an additional 35 days. He said overall feedback from residents has been positive.
“We haven't heard much from the hotel and motel owners," Bluhm said. "I'm hoping that's a good sign that they're not upset with it. We have heard from a few short-term renters, people who have properties that they rent, and they've generally felt that it was a reasonable compromise between nothing and what some of the other towns nearby have imposed.
"There's nothing that's too harsh, we don't think. One requirement is that you would have to have a property manager if you're not living near the property that you're renting, you would have to hire somebody who could get there within two hours if something went wrong.”
Corporately-owned properties in town will not be eligible for short-term rental use.
Lee voters will decide the fate of the proposed regulations sometime this fall, Bluhm said likely in October.
The original article is at https://spectrumnews1.com/ma/worcester/news/2023/09/13/proposing-regulations-for-short-term-rentals-in-lee-ma
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