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Avon commissioners debate minimum-stay rules, fines and enforcement for short-term rentals
Summary
Commissioners discussed minimum-stay requirements (Vice Chair Mahoney proposed 2–3 days), the form and size of fines (one commissioner proposed $250 per day), and how a permit would change enforcement and revocation power for staff.
Debate over how to limit disruptive short-term stays was a central topic at the May 13 meeting. Vice Chair Peter Mahoney said he supported the draft ordinance but wanted to "avoid single night stays" and recommended a minimum stay of "2-3 days," pointing to the disturbances caused by frequent turnovers.
Alternate Randall Bowers questioned the draft's penalty language and recommended increasing the draft fine to "$250 per day" rather than a single $250 penalty; Hiram Peck agreed that the ordinance's penalty and enforcement language needs clarification and noted the Town has the ability to revoke permits for noncompliance.
Peck said the Planning Department receives complaints "about once a week," and commissioners who favored permitting said a permit would let staff identify who is operating and provide a record to callers. Opponents countered that ordinary code enforcement and police responses for noise or parking would still apply whether an address is a permitted short-term rental or not.
Next steps: staff was asked to return with rewritten ordinance language that clarifies minimum-stay thresholds, penalty structure (per occurrence or per-day), standards for revocation and the mechanics of issuing and rescinding permits.
