Short-term Rental Registration Gets A Preliminary Timeline

BREWSTER – By April 2027, short-term rental owners will be required to register their properties — that’s if all goes according to the town’s preliminary timeline. 

In November, town meeting approved the final report from the short-term rental task force, completing its charge to deliver an in-depth report and suggestions regarding short-term rentals (STR). On Monday, the select board voted to disband the committee, citing completion of its duties.

The first recommendation that the select board is hoping to act on is the creation of a registration and inspection program for all STRs in town, which Town Manager Peter Lombardi said seems to have “broad public support.” 

Lombardi, along with other town staff, recommended a general bylaw and companion regulations to establish the program. A town meeting vote would be required to adopt the bylaw. 

The 10th edition of the state building code, effective last July 1, now requires safety inspections of STRs through the building department, so establishing this program within a reasonable timeline is essential, officials said.

Town staff will begin drafting the bylaw and developing a work plan that includes cost and staffing requirements with the hope of presenting it to the select board in February.

Once the board reviews the draft and provides feedback, including discussions surrounding fees, staff will make revisions and prepare an inspection checklist. In March, the select board will potentially present the draft bylaw to the public for feedback.

By April, the select board would need to vote on submitting the final bylaw to town meeting, including a funding request for the third-party host of the regulation program. While town meeting approved a STR revolving fund in November, fees have not been collected, so there is no funding available. Once the program begins, the fees will likely cover the program costs. 

The fee schedule and regulations will be presented to the public in April.

In May, if the bylaw is adopted by town meeting, the town will begin a contract with a host vendor and adopt the fee schedule and regulations. Lombardi said it will likely take around six months for the host vendor to begin the process of setting up a registration system.

The Massachusetts attorney general has three months to approve the bylaw. By September, the town will have a good understanding of staffing needs and funding requirements for the program. That request will likely be on the special town meeting warrant in November. 

If everything goes according to plan, the town will start to reach out to STR owners in December and the program should be up and running by April 2027. 

The task force held multiple public sessions and found significant support for a registration system. Amanda Bebrin, select board liaison to the task force, said this would help more than just the town’s understanding of STR numbers.

“One of the functions of this would be something as simple as people having no one to complain to,” she said. “There is no outlet for them to say, ‘my neighbor has 18 people in their two-bedroom house,’ because we have no bylaw that sets regulation enforcement, so there’s no container for people to be able to capture bad behavior.”  

The select board voted unanimously in support of town staff beginning work on the general bylaw.