© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

North Adams’ short-term rental bylaw takes one more step forward as city council sends it to public hearing

North Adams, Massachusetts city hall.
Josh Landes
/
WAMC
North Adams, Massachusetts city hall.

The North Adams, Massachusetts city council approved an ordinance aimed at registering and inspecting short-term rentals at its meeting Tuesday night.

If approved by the planning board, the short-term rental ordinance will return to city council.

“I'll be the first one to move to a second reading and published by law. Because if that doesn't happen, then it just dies. There's no place to refer to anymore. You'd say back to General Government. And the next chairman of General Government can call a meeting, because I'm certainly not because we've done our best," said Councilor Wayne Wilkinson, who heads the General Government committee. "So, I guess I don't want to say it's all or nothing. But we need to have a place to start, we have to put something on the books. And I think this particular document is good enough that other communities are going to copy.”

Wilkinson explained who the ordinance would apply to.

“If you're doing one of these in our home, go rent our room, this regulation doesn't affect you," he said. "If you have a two-family duplex and you want to do one side, this document doesn't affect you. If you have a up to four-family, you would just have to follow the rules for four-families, whatever a four-family for a long-term rental would, short-term rentals would have to meet that. It's not that hard. Over that, we look at, you're trying to run a business. If you're outside the city or even if you live inside the city, and you want to make some money, you're running a business.”

If passed, the ordinance would legalize the operation of short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods. It’s part of an ongoing trend in Northeast communities grappling with how to regulate the growing industry.

City council president Lisa Hall Blackmer expressed concerns.

“My complaint about this is that you all that were sitting at the table did not include anyone who's actually impacted by this other than it, there was no second homeowners, there were no people that have invested in the city and done this, it was all done as, this is the building code, and this is what we have to do,” she said.

“This ordinance allows people to do this in zones where it was never allowed before," responded building inspector William Meranti. "This allows the planning board to have a look at it. And the neighbors to have a say about it by going to the planning board. So it's not, it hasn't been done in a vacuum by any sense.”

Wilkinson said the process worked as the city government had intended.

“The administration was doing what we asked them- their job," he said. "And amongst the experts that they had in the room about building and community development and all that, it was never meant to be an open forum. They were going to make their best recommendation and send it back to General Government. And that's exactly what they did.”

For short-term rental operators who fall under the ordinance’s guidelines, a trip to the planning board to set up a site plan review would be required.

“In that site plan review, there's an inspection," said Wilkinson. "You have to register. Fee is nominal. You get a list of criteria that you must follow, and it's followed up on as to whether you do that criteria or not.”

Mayor Jennifer Macksey backed the ordinance.

“I know it will help us get more businesses more STRs on books, and I'm just more concerned about safety and accountability in these houses to make sure that they're up to up to code," she said. "If I have an apartment house, I have to get a certificate of occupancy, so why shouldn't these people as well who are renting to people for short periods of time.”

The Massachusetts Public Registry of Lodging Operators lists 105 short-term rental certificates in North Adams.

“Things will need to be more developed and evolved as time goes on and changes will need to be made. But it's a starting point that'll allow us to get these rentals registered, so we know about them and give us the opportunity to know where they are, and also give us the opportunity to limit the city's liability in case of safety issues. Because the primary focus needs to be keeping people safe, and that is really important. And right now, there's no mechanism to inspect and ensure that people in these buildings are safe and that their buildings meet the building code," said city councilor Ashley Shade. “We do have a severe shortage of housing and available housing units in the city. It is extremely hard to rent an apartment in North Adams, and the prices have skyrocketed over the past few years because they are so limited. And they are being limited because properties that would be available for first-time homebuyers, or for people who would rent, a lot of them have been converted into short term rentals. And that is something that we have to look more closely at going forward. But we can't do that until we really have an idea of how many are registered, and how many are following the inspection guidelines.”

The city council unanimously approved the ordinance, which will next go to a joint public hearing between the city council and planning board.

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018, following stints at WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Western Massachusetts, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. His free time is spent with his cat Harry, experimental electronic music, and exploring the woods.
Related Content