Short-term rental restrictions tabled at Brewster town meeting, for now.
BREWSTER — Two bylaws proposed via citizen petitions that aimed to regulate short-term rentals in the town were indefinitely postponed at the fall special town meeting Monday night.
The meeting, with 14 items on the agenda, drew a full house of voters. All items except the two proposed short-term rental bylaws were approved, including $3.327 million from various funding sources for capital purchases and projects, and $2.55 million for improvements to Millstone Road connecting Route 6A to the north with Route 137 to the south.
Amendments to the town's bylaw related to accessory dwelling units, and the citizen petition proposals got the most discussion.
The short-term rental bylaws were proposed by resident Matilda Delano: One sought to require annual registration of short-term rentals with owners paying a $150 annual fee that would go toward creating positions for oversight and enforcement. The second proposal sought to restrict the number of short-term rentals a property owner can operate in Brewster to one, unless the owner is a full-time resident of Brewster.
Delano, who has experienced the housing crisis on Cape for a number of years in a constant quest for stable housing, said her aim was to create more year-round housing, either as rentals or as properties for sale, and to provide more opportunities for workers to stay in the town they work in.
The Select Board and the Finance Committee, however, both argued that the issue needs closer analysis and careful crafting of policy.
Town leaders and some voters expressed concern about amendments added to the proposals that were presented on handouts at the meeting.
Finance Committee Chairman Harvey Dahl said, "it is not our practice to amend and write bylaws on town meeting floor," adding that "bylaws should be extensively discussed and legally vetted." He said the issue needs "thoughtful study," and "we are not there with what is being presented tonight."
Most voters agreed.
Delano and a handful of others who supported her proposals expressed disappointment in the outcome, saying the town is just kicking the can down the road and wondering, "if not now, then when?"
"I think indefinitely postponing it is what Brewster has been doing for the past decade," Delano said.
SOME TOWN MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
WARRANT ARTICLE NUMBER | WHAT IS THE ARTICLE ABOUT? | PASSED, FAILED, POSTPONED |
4 - Community housing | Spend $255,000 from Community Preservation funds for the Brewster Affordable Housing Trust affordable buydown program that offers grants up to $50,000 for first-time affordable home buyers, plus spending $507,500 for affordable housing development at Spring Rock Village on Millstone Road. | Passed |
5 - Zoning bylaws | Amend zoning bylaw related to accessory dwelling unit provisions. Planning Board Chairwoman Amanda Bebrin noted the current bylaw was passed in 2018 to allow the creation of ADUs, but in the years since there has been little activity. The Planning Board, she said, focused the amendments "on making the bylaw easier to take advantage" of while maintaining the integrity of neighborhoods. | Passed |
8 - Long-term planning | Adopt an updated town local comprehensive plan (master plan) — these plans outline a town's vision and goals for development. The town has not had a local comprehensive plan for almost 50 years. The updated plan is the culmination of more than six years of community planning efforts," including a series of critical policy recommendations for the next decade across 10 building blocks "that will broadly inform decision making," according to Town Manager Peter Lombardi. | Passed |
11 -Community Preservation Act surcharge | Vote to exempt those who qualify for low-income housing, or low- to moderate-income senior housing from paying the 3% surcharge previously adopted by voters as a supplement to property taxes under the provisions of the Community Preservation Act. Brewster voters will also have to approve this at the local election next May. | Passed |
Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world, in addition to news and features in Barnstable and Brewster. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Brewster town meeting delays a vote on short-term rental restrictions
