Many Little Compton residents voiced their concerns and suggestions at Thursday’s town council meeting, when council members reviewed a second draft of an ordinance amendment that would regulate short-term rental properties in town.

Under the proposed guidelines, all properties rented, leased, or otherwise occupied by a tenant for less than 31 consecutive days must be registered by the registered property owner and must file with the town clerk before any tenant checks in to the property. Failure to do so will revoke any municipal short-term rental privileges, councilors said.

At the time of registration, the unit must be inspected by the building official and fire marshal to determine the occupancy limit, proper installation of smoke detectors, and the number of off-street and on-street parking spaces available. The new ordinance requires at least one off-street parking space for each bedroom to be provided on the same lot on which the rental is located. The maximum occupancy for each dwelling unit would be limited to two persons per bedroom, and the number of bedrooms can't exceed the design load of the property’s septic system. 

At Thursday's meeting, several residents spoke for or against regulations that would prohibit short term rentals.

Dawn Simmons, whose elderly grandmother added her to the deed of her home and living will, grew emotional at the thought of losing the ability to rent out the home while her grandmother is in an assisted care facility. 

“It has been an unbelievable journey, and now that our journey has started, I fear unimaginable loss due to strict regulations. Loss of our life savings, loss of my childhood home, loss of income for my grandmother, so much loss after we had finally reached the point where I knew we could do this,” she wrote in a letter to the council on October 13. “I am pro-regulation, but I’m hoping and praying and pleading that the town allows previous already-existing short-term rentals to operate once the new ordinance goes into effect.” 

While Simmons said she wants the ability to generate income from their properties protected, others said more overall regulation is needed. They cited negative effects of short-term rentals on their own streets, including large parties, noise, and parking issues:

“This is a huge problem for us, as we never know who will be living across the laneway from us on any given week. And sadly for us, many short-term renters view their time in Little Compton as ‘party time,’ inviting friends to share in the fun and having loud parties into the night,” said John Garrison, of Little Pond Cove. “It’s like having a hotel across the laneway – but a hotel with no security or controls over their guests. This type of thing should not be allowed in a small neighborhood.”

Another issue that has garnered attention is the recommendation of rental periods being no shorter than a five-day stay. 

Maureen Rego says she uses short-term rental websites such as HomeAway or Airbnb often, as it is a cheaper way to house her large family rather than paying for multiple nights in multiple hotel rooms. By imposing a restriction for a minimum five-night stay, she believes this will deter many renters who are looking for a shorter getaway, and could also further harm profit for the property owner. 

“We’ve used it for short-term vacations. I’ve used it for two nights, I’ve used it for three, four, or five, but never seven [nights],” she said. “We sometimes use it for weddings, or funerals, and I wouldn’t want to see those limits, and I would just recommend that you let the homeowner figure that out.”Council members intend to draw up additional revisions and bring the matter before the public at a town council meeting later this fall.