Short‑term rental enforcement, vendor options and 6th Avenue parking dominate public comment

Public concern about short‑term rentals (STRs) surfaced repeatedly during the Dec. 18 meeting as residents urged tighter rules and more enforcement. Several public commenters told the commission they believe STR numbers have risen substantially and asked for stronger penalties and clearer registration enforcement.

Fire Chief Gavin Brown briefed the commission on the fire‑safety context for STRs, pointing to state law that governs transient public lodging and explaining limits to how much a local government can impose without adopting a local ordinance. "If 50% or more of the units in the structure are advertised and held out to the public for transient occupancy, then they would be required [to comply with the state requirements]," he said, citing the statutory threshold used in state rules.

Staff presented vendor options to automate registration, complaint intake and enforcement workflows. The vendors discussed included Deckard/Deckar Technologies, Orange Data and govOS; staff recommended returning with detailed contract terms, data‑ownership terms, and collection‑fee structures in January so the commission can align vendor selection with the draft ordinance. Commissioners asked explicit questions about whether vendor portals would return data to the town, how fees would be handled, and whether a vendor would be paid by flat fee or percentage of collections.

Separately, Commissioner Tim Reed proposed adding a paid or resident‑priority parking plan for the 6th Avenue boat ramp to the task list to reduce nonresident use and preserve access for residents. Public commenters were split: some favored paid parking to disincentivize out‑of‑town use and protect nearby homeowners’ access; other residents warned paid parking would remove a low‑cost public viewpoint and create traffic/safety issues. Staff was asked to measure the site and return a practical proposal and cost estimate (target date: February).