Select Board amends short-term rental bylaw language, removes board-approval clause for Board of Health rules

The Select Board spent a sustained portion of its Feb. 23 meeting debating Article 17, a proposed short-term rental bylaw, and a late amendment that would have made rules and regulations promulgated by the Board of Health "subject to approval by the Select Board." Committee members and public commenters urged clarity about the respective roles of the Board of Health and the Select Board.

Elizabeth Klein, a member of the short-term rental advisory committee, urged the board to proceed without adding a final clause that would bind the Board of Health’s rules to Select Board approval; she and others said the committee’s work should not be overridden by an unexpected structural change at final review. Opponents argued the select board should have the authority to approve substantive regulations; proponents of the committee’s text said policies and procedures differ from rules and regulations and that day-of changes risked undermining the committee’s deliberative work.

After extended discussion, a motion to amend Section 13 by striking the phrase "subject to approval by the select board" carried on a board vote. The board’s action retains the Board of Health’s authorization to promulgate written rules, regulations, policies and procedures for implementing the short-term rental bylaw, without adding a Select Board approval requirement in Section 13. Several members said a broader inter-board discussion on the relationship between the Select Board and other regulatory boards could be appropriate at a later date.

Next steps: The amended recommendation will be presented to Town Meeting as the Select Board’s recommendation; Town Meeting retains authority to accept, amend or reject the warrant article.