EASTHAMPTON — Cease-and-desist notices were posted on the front doors of dozens of local Airbnb and Vrbo listings earlier this summer, blindsiding short-term rental owners across the city.
“If you were renting a place and you saw a cease-and-desist letter, what are you going to think?” said John Losito, a short-term rental owner in Easthampton.
The notices stemmed from a new short-term rental ordinance the City Council passed in March, which for the first time requires Airbnb and Vrbo operators in Easthampton to register with the city, pass annual safety inspections and install fire-safety systems. The city previously had zero regulations for such establishments.
Owners had until July 1 to register, and the ordinance caps the number of short-term rentals citywide at 50. As of last week, 13 of the estimated 40 properties that qualify under the changes had registered.
One week before the city’s compliance deadline, on June 22, Director of Public Health Ryan Griffin posted the cease-and-desist notices on many of the properties that had yet to register. Griffin told the Gazette that the notices were meant to encourage owners to register before the deadline.
Losito and several other short-term rental owners took the notices the wrong way. He said he had prepared his application, but had not submitted it yet. “He could’ve sent an email,” he said. “He put them on the doors of our rentals so if we weren’t home to welcome our guests (they would have seen them).”
“In hindsight, I could have communicated that purpose more clearly,” Griffin acknowledged in an email.
Griffin continued, “Our goal has been to work collaboratively with STR [short-term rental] operators who have already been operating to bring them into compliance within a reasonable timeframe. We want to avoid unnecessarily disrupting existing STRs while also ensuring the ordinance is implemented consistently, enforced appropriately and that public health and safety requirements are met.”
Mayor Salem Derby acknowledged that the letters could have been communicated better and said the matter was “discussed internally.”
The new regulations recognize short-term rentals alongside motels, hotels, lodging houses and bed and breakfasts, with several differences compared to the state’s definition under Massachusetts General Law (MGL) 64G. The amendment defines them as the rental of a whole or portion of a dwelling unit for less than 29 consecutive days.
Mixed reactions
Property owners have had mixed reactions to the new ordinance. Some, like Roxanne Mariani-Prall, said that while the regulations aren’t perfect, she feels they are effective.
“I, along with several other short-term rental owners, advocated and cooperated with the Ordinance Committee for about a year,” Mariani-Prall said. “It was pretty egregious, but I felt like in the end, they came to a common sense regulation that we could all work with.”
Others like Nancy Pierson, who lives in California but owns a rental in Easthampton after previously living in the area, have been frustrated by the regulations. Pierson claims that the new rules make Easthampton the most regulated community in the state when it comes to short-term rentals. Pierson said she is going to wait a year before deciding if she will continue operating her rental.
“I wish somebody would look into how these laws are applied to us but nobody else,” said Pierson, without citing specific comparisons. “Instead, Easthampton — little Easthampton — has the most restrictive short-term rental policy in the state.”
One of the more disputed components is a requirement to have either a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm system monitored 24/7 by a third party, or a more costly whole-house automatic sprinkler system. New buildings would require the sprinkler system while existing buildings only need the alarm system.
At the City Council’s Dec. 3 meeting, President Koni Denham said that short-term rentals in Easthampton are often not operated as a business, but rather as a way for people to make extra money.
“As we already know and are fully aware, the cost of living, housing in Easthampton is expensive and rising, and what we are doing by codifying this [the alarm system], is we are taking away from them an option that allowed them to be able to stay in their home. I think that’s unacceptable,” Denham said at the meeting.
Losito said he paid approximately $2,200 for the new alarm system; Mariani-Prall paid approximately $1,200; and Pierson paid approximately $1,000, not including annual fees to have the systems monitored by a third party.
Owners must also now pay $225 each year for an inspection from the Health, Building and Fire Departments.
Mariani-Prall said she enjoys knowing that her guests are safe with the alarm system. She also said it is much cheaper than the sprinkler system.
“It took some work to get it where it needs to be in terms of how the new alarm system was put in, but I know that my guests and myself are safe,” she said.
Building Commissioner David Gardner said at the Dec. 3 meeting that the state’s building code requires a sprinkler system, however, a community’s local authority on the matter — Gardner in this case — can accept an alternative that meets the same safety codes for existing buildings, such as the alarm system.
Losito said he has already had a guest burn a pizza and activate the alarm system, but firefighters did not respond to the rental, leaving him wondering if it is because his property hasn’t been inspected yet. Losito said that since the cease-and-desist letters went out, city inspectors have become less strict during inspections.
“They are putting in an effort to streamline the process to make it easier and help us get these things through (inspections), but I think the damage is done a little bit,” Losito said.
Another requirement Pierson is unhappy with is that rentals are not allowed to house more than five people at a time. She said her rental is a house that can host up to 10 guests, but now she can only fill half of that capacity.
“There are no hotels or anything in Easthampton so we have (a lot of) families staying with us,” Pierson said.
Background
This is not the first time a cease-and-desist request has been issued to short-term rentals.
The City Council Ordinance Subcommittee started drafting the new regulations after Gardner received a complaint early last year from an abutter to a short-term rental, who reported seeing different people showing up frequently at the neighboring residence. Other residents raised questions about how short-term rentals were regulated.
A cease-and-desist moratorium was then put in place following the complaint.
Gardner said at the Dec. 3 City Council meeting that since there were no regulations in place in Easthampton — besides room occupancy taxes and state registration — he had no choice but to issue the moratorium.
During the drafting process, city officials estimated that there were approximately 40 short-term rentals operating in the city, counting any property that had paid room occupancy taxes since 2020. Not all properties on the tax list were still operational, however.
Griffin expects that number to “grow significantly” by early September, though the ordinance caps the total number of short-term rentals citywide at 50
Losito said the city will be “lucky if they ever get 20.”
City Councilor Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid, who chairs the Ordinance Subcommittee, said there are certain state requirements that the regulations had to include, regardless of whether councilors agreed with them or not.
“With the building code and fire code, there’s nothing the city can really do because that’s our building and fire officials doing their job and that’s something that’s not really appropriate to stand in the way of,” Jamrog-McQuaid said. “I think there are bigger questions for the state in regard to building and fire codes.”
Jamrog-McQuaid said the new regulations were intended to provide a framework that works for owners and the city, and it is frustrating that it has been a difficult process for some owners.
“It’s a new policy and we’re all trying to figure out how it will work smoothly. There are going to be some growing pains there,” Jamrog-McQuaid said. “If we need to address any concerns, the Council will address them.”
Losito said that he appreciates the city councilors who worked hard on the new regulations, who he said “took our input to heart.” He hopes that city officials recognize the value short-term rental owners bring to Easthampton.
“They don’t realize what someone like me brings to the Easthampton economy,” Losito said. “I welcome all our guests … I make sure they go out in Easthampton.”
Mayor Derby said Easthampton needs short-term rentals, since there are not many other places to stay in the city. He said regulations need to find a balance to keep people safe and allow rentals to operate effectively.
“I don’t want to be the most restrictive city in the state, unless there is a compelling reason to be,” he said.
