York is the latest coastal town in Maine to consider regulating short-term rentals.
Residents will vote next month on a proposed ordinance that would require all short-term rental units to be registered with the town.
Property owners would have to secure a permit for each of their units, which would be subject to an inspection and fees every three years. The ordinance also sets occupancy limits and trash and parking requirements, among other rules.
The town first started a discussion about short-term rentals back in 2016 and 2017, York planning director Dylan Smith said. York would have been among the first to regulate them at the time, but the debate became too heated, and officials tabled the issue.
In revisiting the topic, Smith said York looked to other Maine towns that have since enacted regulations of their own, including Freeport and Kennebunkport. Town officials said the referendum is an effort to better track short-term rentals and preserve the character of York's residential neighborhoods.
"Make sure that they're safe, make sure that they're registered, make sure that they're not negatively impacting quality of life and various character issues in town," Smith said.
But York native Joe Colwell, who's part of an opposition group against the referendum, said that many of the requirements are too onerous for most property owners seeking to earn extra income. He said the group wants the properties to be safe, but a proposed prohibition on fire pits on smaller sized short-term rental properties, for example, has been a sticking point for some residents.
"These are people that have one rental," Colwell said. "These folks would have to be consistent with new codes that put huge burdens on these folks, and we would have preferred to have seen some kind of grandfather[ing]-in in place."
A separate group of York residents in favor of the proposed ordinance has also formed, citing quality of life concerns with some of the larger properties in town.
Though York first began a conversation about short-term rentals several years ago, Colwell said some residents are also concerned with the process that York took to develop the proposed ordinance and believe the town should have formed a committee to study the issue first.
He pointed to a recent statewide housing study, which painted a complex picture about the impacts that short-term rentals may have on local housing supply. About one-third of the state's seasonal rental stock is comprised of affordable homes that an average Mainer could rent or buy. The research finds that the rest are too large, too expensive or not practical.
"The vast majority of them are right next to the coast, in the harbor, the beach," Colwell said of the short-term rental supply in York. "Quite frankly, affordable housing ended decades ago in those areas. The prices have been up really since the 90s."
The proposed ordinance, if enacted, would give town officials an exact short-term rental count. Rough estimates project that York may have anywhere from 800 to 900 short-term rentals, which may account for about 10% of the town's housing supply, Smith said.
Unlike some municipalities, which include Kittery and Bangor, the York proposal does not impose a cap on the number of short-term rentals that can be registered in town, Smith added. The proposed regulations would permit them in all zones in York.
York residents will vote May 18 on the referendum. If approved, it will go into effect at the end of the year.
