Select Board fines Near Beach Motel $25,000, grants conditional license with strict compliance terms

Summary

After code enforcement presented registry evidence suggesting multiple long-term stays in apparent violation of a 28‑in‑40 rule, the Select Board voted 5–0 to levy a $25,000 fine and grant a conditional annual lodging license to Near Beach Motel, requiring weekly logs, an escrow for monitoring, technology fixes, a six‑month as‑built/site plan and a seasonal closure.

The Select Board voted 5–0 on Aug. 6 to grant a conditional annual lodging license to Near Beach Motel (owned by 7 Shree Bhagwati Hospitality LLC) at 395 Post Road, imposing a $25,000 fine and a package of compliance measures after the town presented evidence it said showed repeated failures to keep required guest registries and to limit guest stays under a 28‑day-in-40‑day rule.

Leah Rechin, speaking for the town’s code enforcement office, told the board the hearing was focused on two issues: whether Near Beach had “scrupulously follow[ed] the requirements for guest registries under state law and your own ordinance,” and whether guests had been allowed to occupy rooms “for a period of more than 28 days within any 40‑day period.” Rechin and code enforcement witness Jodine Adams pointed to printouts the town labeled Exhibit 10 and related exhibits that, they said, contained repeated discrepancies between arrival/departure calendar spans and the shorter “nights” figures the property’s system reported.

Adams said the town’s review showed multiple examples where the arrival and departure dates spanned weeks while the logs reported far fewer nights; she said the calendar visualization she prepared…

Select Board fines Near Beach Motel $25,000, grants conditional license with strict compliance terms

Summary

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