Town officials are weighing proposed zoning regulations that could require the owners of properties let out for short-term rentals to obtain a zoning permit first.
The proposed regulations, now in draft form before the Planning & Zoning Commission, could come to a public hearing next month, officials said.
Obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a Freedom of Information Act request, the draft proposal would see P&Z regulate short-term rentals as an accessory use, not a primary use, in residential districts. Specifically, a “minor short-term rental” would be defined as “the temporary rental or part or all of a residential property for fewer than 30 consecutive nights at a time, for no more than three times in a six-month period, for which the guest compensates the owner of the property.”
Such “minor short-term rentals” would occur no more than three times in a six-month period and would be required to meet Housing Code occupancy requirements, to be used for lodging only—as opposed to activities such as parties, fundraisers, photo shoots or corporate retreats—and must not “materially disrupt the residential character of the neighborhood,” according to the draft.
Commissioner Krista Neilson, who has taken a lead on helping draft the regulations along with Town Planner Lynn Brooks Avni, said that in some ways the language is designed to give more discretion to a zoning enforcement officer who might be faced with difficult situations and the prospect of resigning the requirement zoning permits.
Another part of the draft regulation specifies that the zoning permit, which would expire after one year, could be revoked if the rental “imposed a nuisance on neighbors.”
Brooks Avni noted that it would important to have “some sort of threshold about what the nuisance might be.”
“Just because they are bothered by the fact that a neighbor is renting, that might be their nuisance but if it’s allowed then it’s not really a nuisance,” she said during P&Z’s regular meeting, held April 30 at Town Hall. “So is it a nuisance where they are leaving trash on the lawn and not cleaning up after themselves?”
P&Z said last fall that it would look to update the New Canaan Zoning Regulations following concerns expressed by some with short-term home rentals through the popular online service Airbnb. A recent search of New Canaan rentals available through the service show more than one dozen options, from single rooms to entire houses. The draft regulations now under consideration go into far more detail than what’s already on the books. A section of the New Canaan Zoning Regulations does allow a “rooming house” use by special permit, though only in the B Residential zone. A “bed and breakfast” use also may be had by special permit, though conditions include screening from the street, under the regulations (see page 44 here).
The draft regulations define as a “major short term rental” a temporary rental of “part of all of a property for fewer than 30 consecutive nights at a time” which does not meet the requirements of a minor rental. Those would be permitted by special permit only, according to the draft regulations.
The draft additions to the New Canaan Zoning Regulations would also require at least one additional parking space for a rental, and require that a property owner is “limited to one permit for one rental unit per property.”
The draft also requires adherence to housing, building and fire safety codes, and proof of insurance, as part of the application for a permit.
Neilson said she and Brooks Avni have consulted with officials in the municipal Building and Health Departments, as well as the Fire Marshal’s office, and that they’ve expressed interest in doing inspections for properties seeking short-term rental permits.
Brooks Avni said that in drafting the to-be-proposed regulations, she has been conscious of not stepping on the feet of other town departments with respect to enforcement, and has double-checked the draft language against “what has been enacted in other local communities in Connecticut.”
P&Z Chairman John Goodwin said it would be very important prior to bringing the draft regulations to a public hearing to have them reviewed by the town attorney.