In light of concerns raised by residents at the October special Town Meeting, zoning officials are beginning to consider potential language to allow short-term rentals in Belmont.
“Once we have a new bylaw in place …. Trust me, all the neighbors are going to call us to say there’s an illegal short-term rental,” said Building Division Inspector of Buildings Inspector Ara Yogurtian. “Now, we don’t have the staff to enforce it.”
In Belmont, short-term rentals are not allowed by right but are allowed in certain residential districts by special permit, according to Planning Division Director and Town Planner Chris Ryan. Furthermore, the zoning bylaw does not allow the primary use of a residence to be short-term rentals; only an accessory use is allowed. And yet, as many as 70 homes in Belmont are listed as short-term rentals, according to a state website — even though Zoning Board of Appeals Chair Casey Williams does not recall ever receiving a special permit request in the six or seven years she has served on the board.
For that reason, there was some debate last fall about whether to include a short-term rental surcharge on the warrant even before the Planning Board discussed the zoning for short-term rentals.
Ultimately, Town Meeting authorized the town to collect a 6% occupancy excise tax on hotels and short-term rentals. The language was sent to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue Division of Local Services Databank.
At its December meeting, the Zoning Board of Appeals initiated a conversation on short-term rentals in Belmont.
“My personal gut check is we are wanting to stay in the owner-occupied territory, but I think it’s something we should vet and make sure that’s the right avenue,” Williams said at a meeting in December. “But from what I’ve gleaned so far, I think that would be a good restriction or clarification for our short-term rental definition.”
In December, members talked about owner-occupied versus non-owner-occupied, occupancy limits, and other logistical considerations, such as whether to impose limits on how many consecutive days or weeks a property can be rented. In January, members discussed regulations. Williams expects to talk about the registration process at the February meeting.
“We also want to make sure that anyone who is the owner or operator, and the people being the short-term renters, that they’re in a safe environment,” Williams said by phone Tuesday. “There’s some sort of process to make sure we can check that and … everything is on the up and up.”
To begin the process, the board first looked to define terms, including homeowner and renter, and looked into other communities’ requirements for registering a property as a short-term rental.
“I want to hear from those people that are [listing their property online for short-term rental], but I’m worried we’re not going to get comment from them because they don’t want to expose themselves in this process,” Williams said. “It’s very hard to tell from the listings, in many cases, what the background situation is that’s going on. I don’t know that we have so many tenant-occupied opportunities that it’s going to make a huge difference. I’m most concerned about the actual registration and related enforcement and having that be effective.”
The conversation will continue at the February meeting.
“We are very happy to hear from the public or anyone who has a vested interest, a concern, or idea,” Williams said. “The board is bringing a wide range of perspectives or opinions but we can’t possibly know or cover all of them.”
The language from the Zoning Board of Appeals will only serve as a draft recommendation for the Planning Board to review, according to Williams. Once a copy is in the Planning Board’s hands, it will go through its standard process for reviewing bylaws, which will include a public hearing process.
