Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Short Term Rental topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board grants short-term rental variance for property in CN district with zoning-limited condition
Summary
The board granted Timothy and Penny Williams a variance allowing short stays shorter than the town's 7-night minimum for 1752 Union Street, limiting the relief to this CN (neighborhood commercial) property and noting enforcement options if violations occur.
Timothy and Penny Williams told the Zoning Board they built a repeat-client short‑stay business at 1752 Union Street and that the town's 7‑night minimum, adopted after they began operating, has cut revenue and curtailed services they offered to clients who stayed one or two nights.
"We've lost, like, 75% of the business that we had," Penny Williams said, explaining that many repeat clients and short work‑related stays are now unavailable under the 7‑day rule. Planning staff and legal counsel summarized the town's legislative intent to limit turnover in residential neighborhoods and explained the code differentiates hosted and unhosted rentals and that CN (neighborhood commercial) parcels provide comparatively limited opportunities for unhosted rentals.
Legal counsel and staff advised the board that the town already has enforcement tools, including permit revocation after two code violations within a one‑year period. Board members weighed whether the benefit could be achieved by other means, the character of the CN district and the risk of creating precedent. One board member moved to grant the variance with a condition limiting precedent by tying the approval to the CN zoning district and property specifics; the motion carried by a 5‑to‑2 vote.
