Just because you lose doesn’t mean you give up. STRs are a part of Westport’s history, but the trend of what they are turning into is a threat to the character of Westport.”

John Bullard

The problem I have with the way Town Meeting works is that I make a presentation and everybody else gets up and talks and starts saying things that are just not true. I as the proposer have no ability to get up and say, ‘That’s not true.’”

Planning board chairman Jim Whitin

One month after voters at Town Meeting rejected zoning amendments that would have legalized Short Term Rentals (STRs), Westport renters have entered their busy season with little word from the town on whether they’ll be subject to cease and desist orders for partaking in a practice that technically has always been, and remains, illegal here. Meanwhile, town planners are dusting off the failed regulations and will likely revisit them for another attempt before Town Meeting, either next year or at a special meeting.

Little guidance so far

The Tuesday, May 7 Town Meeting vote would, if passed, have recognized STRs as an allowed use in the residential zone and would have set a seven-day minimum rental period.

In the wake of its failure and the failure of a motion to reduce that rental period to two days, the zoning enforcement officer prepared cease and desist orders which would presumably be sent to rental owners — but there is no word from town administration on what will be done with them, and it is unknown if any have been sent out.

“Technically right now, everyone who is doing a short term rental is doing it illegally and they’re subject to a cease and desist,” zoning board chairman Roger Menard said last Thursday.

But sending such letters is up to the zoning enforcement officer, he said, and to date Menard said he has not gotten any word on what will become of them.

“I was hoping to have a little more of a definitive answer on that ... but it’s still in process,” Menard said.

While a possible moratorium on enforcing the prohibition was discussed at a recent select board meeting, Menard said he spoke with the town administrator about that and doesn’t believe one is coming:

“That’s not legal from a couple of standpoints,” Menard said. “First, they (the select board) don’t have authority over zoning in the first place.”

Second, “the town is required to uniformly enforce our codes. If we do it for one and not for another, it could be prejudicial.”

'So it’s going to be a work in progress.”

That work also continues on the planning side of the issue, as members of the planning board voted at their most recent meeting to have the board’s STR subcommittee continue work on proposed regulations, for likely presentation to the select board and ultimately, a future town meeting.

“Just because you lose doesn’t mean you give up,” board member John Bullard said.

“STRs are a part of Westport’s history, but the trend of what they are turning into is a threat to the character of Westport. And despite the defeat at Town Meeting, this problem is not going away. It is in fact getting worse — there are legal issues in that STRs are technically illegal (and) we do have a problem that needs to be solved.”

Town planner Michael Burris said Monday that as the town moves forward, the planning department will soon post a survey on the town's website "to collect data on on the extent to which Westporters think short-term rentals should be present in the community, and to help determine if the previously proposed bylaw framework should be revised and proposed at a future town meeting."

Town meeting changes?

Whatever happens from a regulatory standpoint, members of both the planning and zoning boards said they want to see changes in the way future Town Meetings are run, as several believe the vote failed largely due to the amount of misinformation relayed by speakers at the meeting, and because the STR article was so far down on the warrant.

“The problem I have with the way Town Meeting works is that I make a presentation and everybody else gets up and talks and starts saying things that are just not true,” planning board chairman Jim Whitin said. “I as the proposer have no ability to get up and say, ‘That’s not true.’”

“When we allow people to get up ... and provide erroneous information, someone in authority should be able to stand up and say, ‘No, that’s not the way this works,’” zoning chairman Menard added. “We need to be able to have someone in authority to repudiate” false statements, “to say, ‘You misunderstand this.’ Because that’s all everybody hears, a whole bunch of people pulling up and making statements they believe are true, but in fact are not.”

As for its placement toward the end of the warrant, “You can’t have zoning things at the end of Town Meeting because zoning affects the town forever.