Council to hold community roundtable on short-term rental ordinance the week of Feb. 24; work session moved to March 17

Narragansett town officials said they will host community roundtable discussions on the town’s short-term rental ordinance the week of Feb. 24 and will follow up with a televised council work session on March 17.

Council members described the Feb. community event as a roundtable format — small-group discussions intended to gather varied stakeholder views — and discussed logistics such as televised access, meeting format and avoiding Open Meetings Act violations by limiting the number of councilors at any one roundtable table. Several councilors and members of the public urged that the community meeting be available to remote viewers and that the televised work session that follows incorporate recommendations from the roundtable.

At the meeting the council agreed that two council members would attend the community roundtable to facilitate discussion and avoid creating a quorum in a single small-group setting. Councilors identified Durkin and McNally (or alternatives depending on availability) as potential participants; the town manager will propose exact dates for the Feb. 24 week sessions and the council scheduled the formal work session on the ordinance for March 17. A motion to reschedule the Feb. 18 work session to March 17 passed 5–0.

Why it matters: Short-term rental rules affect housing availability, neighborhood character and enforcement workloads; the council framed the Feb. roundtables as a way to gather broad public input before the March 17 council work session where staff and council will consider ordinance revisions.

Speakers

Councilor (originator of item) (unnamed in transcript) (government)

Councilor Durkin (government)

Members of the public: Paul Zahn Frillo, Dr. Al Alba, Steven Ferandy (citizen commenters)

Clarifying details

- Roundtable timing: week of Feb. 24; specific date/time to be determined and advertised. - Work session rescheduled: formal council work session to discuss the ordinance set for March 17, 2025 (televised). - Participation: To avoid Open Meetings Act issues, only two council members will attend each roundtable small-group session; a subsequent televised work session will review input.

Provenance

- topicintro: transcript where council president introduced the item to reschedule the Feb. 18 work session (s 4823.805): "Is there a motion to reschedule the work session on 02/18/2025..." - topfinish: transcript where the council recorded the March 17 rescheduling vote (s 6037.82–6048.165): "Motion passes 5 0."