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In the midst of discussions surrounding the housing crisis in the midcoast, the Camden Select Board has decided to send proposed new short-term rental regulations to voters in June.
The new regulations would require owners of commercial short-term rental units to register their units with the town and comply with safety regulations and inspections. The Camden planning board suggested a cap of 150 commercial short-term rental units, but this proposed limit has been struck down by the select board.
As available housing has become increasingly hard to find in Maine, several towns across the state have enacted regulations and caps on short-term rental units, like Airbnbs and VRBOs. Bar Harbor passed a cap on short-term rentals in 2021, limiting them to 9 percent of the town’s housing stock. Cape Elizabeth requires owners of short-term rentals to obtain permits.
The biggest concern for Jeremy Martin, the town’s planning and development director, was safety. He said at Tuesday’s select board meeting that he’s seen short-term rental units with three bedrooms advertise capacities of 11 people, owners putting beds in unfinished basements or offices and other violations of code.
Martin said code violations like this can cause safety concerns if guests do not have an egress window to escape a fire or if the septic system of a house cannot accommodate more people than it was built for.
Though Camden currently requires owners of commercial short-term rentals, which are not occupied by the owners, to register their units, Martin said at the Tuesday meeting that the requirement is nearly impossible to enforce.
“Compliance with the code is meager,” Martin said at the meeting.
Camden could have between 200 and 400 short-term rentals, Martin said, but the town has no real way of knowing. If the voters approve these new regulations in June, then the town can hire a firm to keep tabs on short-term rentals in the area.
The cost of hiring someone to monitor the local short-term rental market likely would cost around $14,000, Martin said.
Under the new regulations, owners of commercial short-term rentals would have to apply for an annual license, like inns and bed and breakfasts in the town. The units would be inspected every three years.
The cap on how many short-term rentals should be allowed would be left to the select board to determine, as would be the fees that owners would have to pay to cover inspections, if voters approve the proposed rules.
But the regulations received pushback from several owners of short-term rentals in the community, including Rolanda Klapatch, who said at the meeting that though she agrees rental properties should be safe, the planning board shouldn’t dole out specific rules similar to those a homeowner’s association might impose.
“What is next, how much you can charge for your rentals? What colors you can paint your house? How many people you can invite into your house?” Klapatch said at the meeting. “If I wanted all those controls exerted over me I would move to a gated community in Florida.”
If voters approve the new regulations on June 11, they would go into effect in January of 2025.
