Voters at Tuesday evening’s Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved two warrant articles that legalize and regulate short term rentals (STRs) in Westport, a year after confusion over the issue led to its rejection following a long, spirited debate.

Prior to Tuesday night’s vote, STRs were illegal in Westport and indeed have always been, as they were not specifically referred to as an allowed use in the town’s zoning use tables.

The approval of warrant articles 26 and 27 change that, regulating and specifically approving the practice, setting up a self-certification system for renters and authorizing oversight by the select board.

Unlike the warrant article that failed last year, Tuesday’s approved articles apply a much gentler stroke, doing away with many of the  regulatory hurdles that voters last year deemed onerous.

Following the measure's failure, town officials established a short term rental advisory committee to completely revamp the proposed regulations and make them clearer, more direct, and less bureaucratic.

Now, the practice is allowed by right in all zoning districts, and renters need only self-certify that they are in compliance with pre-existing town health, safety and other regulations.

“We’re not going to try to have someone come in and inspect,” planning board chairman and short term rental committee member James Whitin said during the rewrite process. “We’re not going to try to have you go before different boards for approval. This is self-certification that you comply — so hopefully that would work.”

“This is a minimal regulation,” fellow board member John Bullard added. “We’ve gotten it down to the bare bones — less is more.”

Voters agreed Tuesday, as several voters spoke on behalf of the warrant article, saying Westport officials listened and came up with a better plan:

"It was open, it was transparent," Drift Road resident Amy Chitwood said from the floor.

"They learned a lot (and) they listened," another resident added. "It makes it legal on the books. It produces and I really am very proud of them for the way they acted — totally in favor of it."

Though there were a few nays, they were dwarfed by the number of votes in the affirmative.

One of those nays came from school committee chairman Christopher Thrasher. He said he worried about the broad power the bylaw gives the select board, which will be charged with  overseeing STRs and stepping in when issues develop. He also suggested that the regulation itself was unnecessary — just because something isn't specifically mentioned in the town's zoning use tables, he said, doesn't mean it isn't legal.

But he was in the minority. Referring to the select board's oversight role, Westport Point resident Maury May said he believes select board involvement is a good idea, adding that he can only recall a few problem STRs over the past several years.

"But when we do have (a) problem, we need to give the select board (the authority) to shut them down."