Select Board amends short‑term rental bylaw ahead of April warrant; adds definitions and insurance requirement

The Falmouth Select Board spent a substantial portion of its Feb. 9 meeting reviewing the town’s proposed short‑term rental bylaw ahead of the April annual town meeting. The board and associate town counsel debated definitions, enforcement authority and implementation before voting to adopt a package of chair‑proposed amendments to the warrant articles.

Associate town counsel proposed a draft definition for “timeshare, fractional and interval ownership” to clarify which co‑ownership structures the bylaw would target and to exclude common private co‑ownership. Counsel also recommended adding a requirement that applicants for short‑term rental licenses provide a certificate of liability insurance for at least $1,000,000, consistent with state law and local risk management.

The most contested item was whether the Select Board should retain oversight of any rules and regulations promulgated by the Board of Health to implement the bylaw. After discussion the Select Board voted to require that rules and regulations the Board of Health adopts to administer the bylaw be subject to Select Board approval; the Board of Health member present said the Board would further discuss implementation at a future meeting.

Select Board members emphasized caution about unintended consequences—such as the effect of a 20‑mile manager residency rule on owner‑operators—and agreed to leave that language unchanged on the warrant so the committee could revisit it later. The board directed staff to publish the warrant with the agreed amendments and to continue outreach and technical drafting before town meeting.