Westerly council holds workshop as residents and hosts spar over short-term rental rules

Westerly — The Town Council convened a Sept. 29 workshop to gather public input and explore policy options for regulating short-term rentals after months of complaints and rising registrations. Dozens of residents and hosts told the council they want either stronger protections for neighborhoods or safeguards for local hosts who rely on rental income.

Residents such as Brenda Higginson of Hobart Street described local disruptions they attribute to short-term rentals, citing street parking overflowing onto lawns, guests using cottage or beach passes, and increased speeding. "I'm in about 20 houses in my little area. Three of them and now I think possibly four are short-term rentals," Higinson said, adding that some families are leaving because they cannot find year-round housing. Other speakers raised similar neighborhood and parking concerns.

Several hosts and owner-operators pushed back on broad restrictions. Heather Rifinger, who said she operates an owner-occupied Airbnb at 234 High Street, told the council her guests are often visiting family or attending downtown events and that short-term rentals have helped revive business for restaurants and venues. "We have had over a hundred rentals in the last year," Rifinger said, and she urged parity in safety inspections and enforcement rather than blanket bans.

Speakers offered competing assessments of scale and causes. Lisa Ferraro told the council the town registry lists about "400 short-term rentals" out of roughly "11,000 residential properties," and urged officials to weigh other drivers of housing shortages — such as mortgage rates, local job availability and out-of-state buyers — before restricting rentals. Ferraro also flagged state tax changes that will increase short-term rental taxes beginning in 2026 and noted municipal fee differences between hotels and private rentals.

Police and town staff told the council enforcement so far has focused on a small share of properties. Sean, who said he handles the bulk of complaints, said nearly all registered hosts comply with town rules and that the department fields only a small number of nuisance calls. "99.999% of the people in town operate their short-term rentals the way they're supposed to," he said, while also noting that the town’s registration and monitoring tools help identify and address outliers quickly.

Council members discussed a range of regulatory tools rather than adopting a single approach. Suggested options included limiting short-term rental licenses per person or entity, requiring owner-occupancy or town residency for rentals in certain zones, drawing geographic overlays (with stricter rules north of Shore Road), imposing annual-night caps (examples mentioned included 90–120 nights), requiring local brokers for non-owner-occupied units, using special-use zoning permits, and grandfathering existing compliant registrations.

Solicitor and staff guidance framed the legal questions and next steps. Town solicitor Michael Connelly advised the council that many of the concepts under discussion — owner-occupancy definitions, residency tests tied to tax or occupancy evidence, and licensing limits — are legally definable but will need precise drafting to withstand legal challenge; he also noted pending court litigation elsewhere that could affect zoning-based limits. The solicitor was asked to return with legal analysis and implementation timelines for the council to consider.

Councilors emphasized balancing protection for long-time residents and small owner-operators with the need to prevent out-of-town investors from converting housing stock into de facto hotels. Councilor Dylan Leitra said he was "about where I'm at" with a proposal to bar non-residents from operating short-term rentals north of Shore Road, while other councilors pressed for townwide standards and clear enforcement paths.

No ordinance was introduced or voted on at the workshop. The council concluded by asking the solicitor and staff to research several discrete questions — legal viability of caps per owner/entity, definitions for owner-occupancy and town residency, grandfathering of existing licenses, zoning or special-use permitting models, local-broker requirements, enforcement procedures, and reasonable phase-in timelines — and to report back at a future session.

The meeting adjourned without a formal vote on new short-term rental restrictions. The council indicated additional workshops and a draft ordinance were likely after the solicitor's analysis.