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Getting Ready for Town Meeting: Regulating Short-Term Rentals in Brewster
November 2, 2023 @ 17:30 - 20:00
Brewster Community Network will host a forum, “Getting Ready for Town Meeting: Regulating Short-Term Rentals in Brewster,” on Thursday. November 2 at 6 pm, in the Brewster Ladies’ Library. This will focus on two citizen-petitioned articles for our Special Town Meeting on November 13. Attendees can listen to their rationale, ask questions, and offer opinions on these and other articles.
Lead petitioner Matilda Delano will explain Article 13, “Registration of Short-Term Rentals,” and Article 14, “Restriction of Short-Term Rentals.” According to the Cape Cod Chronicle, Mati and family have experienced the Cape’s affordable housing crisis for more than a decade. They’ve watched this worsen in Brewster as more homes became short-term rentals and fewer homes were offered for year-round occupancy. State data indicate that over 1000 Brewster homes – almost 15% of the total – are now used for short-term rentals.
Article 13 would require owners seeking to offer short-term home rentals to register with the Town of Brewster and promote compliance with all local and state ordinances, including occupancy, trash removal, and parking requirements, zoning bylaws, plus health and safety codes. A required annual $150 fee would cover registration and enforcement costs. Violators could be subject to $200/day fines. Article 14 would limit the number of short-term rentals operated in Brewster to two for full-time residents and one for all others.