01/24/2019 BOARD OF HEALTH Minutes

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The legislature revised the bill with the Governor's comments and approved and sent the revised copy to the Governor, and he signed the bill on December 28, 2018. Chapter 337 of the Acts of 2018 indicates that any town with a town meeting form of government, that choses to accept the right to charge the additional local 6%tax, must accept the law via a vote at town meeting. Section 14 of the Acts includes the town's possible right to require registration, as well as evidence that the properties are not in enforcement with inspectional services, and health and safety inspections. The operator is to bear the reasonable cost of the Inspections. On October 25, 2018,the board voted to table.the Rental Property Regulation until the State finished its deliberations on the proposed bill. Mr. Harrington stated that,at this point, he is of the opinion that the rental regulation should be a by-law with the Board of Health and other inspectional services as enforcement. The regulation Included year round properties but the by-law would not, unless the board pushes to include year round properties. The law says that the town can decide which rental properties would be subject to the by-law based upon the length of rental. Mr. Harrington stated that, if the town goes with a by-law, It would only apply to short-term rentals, according to the State. Ms. Langler asked if a separate by-law would be required In order to cover long- term rentals and Mr. Harrington answered that long-term rentals could be added, but that it would have to be justified with supporting documentation. He advised the board that the more that is added to the by-law,the more restrictive it becomes and the more properties would be subject to it. He indicated that realtors had expressed concern about limiting the number of rentals in the area, particularly on the long- term side,since there is such an immediate shortage. Chair Baumgaertel asked what the timeline looked like for finalizing'and submitting a by-law for inclusion in the upcoming town meeting warrant. Mr. Harrington answered that warrant articles are due on February 11"', but that the draft regulation could be converted into a by-law and submitted as a placeholder, with the understanding that revisions could be made prior to the Selectmen finalizing the warrant articles. Mr. Harrington further stated that, If the Board of Health Is going to be designated as the primary department responsible for enforcement of the by-law,the Health department was going to need additional staff or would need to hire a company to identify the rental locations and conduct the inspections. Mr. Harrington indicated that there are approximately 400 short-term rentals in town. Ms. Langler stated that those types of companies typically only research and inspect short-term rentals, and Chair Baumgaertel suggested that hiring a summer person might be an alternative. He indicated that he saw the short-term rental portion as being easier to move forward on than the long-term, given past experience and the fact that a State regulation is now in place for the short-term rentals. Ms. Langler suggested that, in the interest of public health, it is important to Include long-term rentals because that directly impacts the year-round population of Mashpee. Ms. Langler asked if earlier pushback was driven by the cost of the permit,and Mr. Harrington stated that the cost of permits initially started at$300 per unit but were later changed to $100/individual unit and - $300/multiple units. He further stated that, If all inspectional services are included as a requirement in the by-law, the permit fee could end up being higher. Mr. Harrington advised that, If the board intends to conduct inspections on short-term rentals under the housing code,it should apply to long-term rentals as well. He stated that there is currently no zoning in place for vacation rental properties,so the Building Commissioner would have to address that. Mr. Harrington explained that the Selectmen have to vote to approve inclusion of each article on the warrant, and he requested of the Town Manager's Office that the warrant reflect the by-law was submitted by the Board of Selectmen,because it would carry more weight. Chair Baumgaertel expressed 5