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Date: 9/8/2022
SOUTHWICK – The Short Term Rental Subcommittee has developed a draft of a potential bylaw that would formally legalize Airbnb-style rentals in Southwick.
The bylaw would lift the unenforced prohibition of short-term rentals in Southwick and implement new regulations on their use. Subcommittee Chair Randy Brown, the head of the Department of Public Works, said during their Aug. 30 meeting that he would like to see the committee vote to move the bylaw forward at its September meeting.
The draft of the bylaw defines a short-term rental as: “A residential primary residential or mixed-use dwelling unit or any bedroom within a dwelling rented out through the use of advance reservations, for a fee, for a period of not more than 31 consecutive calendar days, excluding hotels.”
The subcommittee chose to leave out two sections of the draft in the bylaw: an excise tax and a mandate that such properties be occupied by the owner while they are being rented.
Select Board member Doug Moglin said he was opposed to including an excise tax on top of the fees that would eventually be included in short-term rental registration. He said the bylaw is simply meant to give peace of mind to neighbors of Airbnb-style rentals in Southwick.
“I do not see a need to attempt to make revenue off of that, beyond the fees we are proposing to charge,” said Moglin.
The committee chose to leave out the owner-occupancy requirement because it would be a challenge to enforce logistically, and because the property owner would reasonably need to be able to come and go from the property over the course of any given day.
The bylaw draft includes requirements to register one’s short-term rental property with the town via an application through the Building Department, and notification to abutting properties. The owners of such properties would also be required to provide their contact and address information to local emergency response agencies and the Building Department.
It also sets basic standards for how such rentals handle trash removal, parking, rentals for less than 24 hours, and smoke and carbon monoxide detection.
Criteria were also set for what constitutes an ineligible unit, including below-market-rate or income-restricted dwelling, and dwellings in violation of building codes.
To take effect, the bylaw would have to be passed in a Town Meeting vote.