STR Owners Raise Discrimination Concerns At Public Hearing

BREWSTER – With Brewster’s short-term rental registration bylaw heading to town meeting next week, rental owners at Monday’s public hearing voiced mixed opinions on proposed safety standards, fees and inspections, with some calling the regulations discriminatory.

Although there was both support and opposition for the regulations, many present at the meeting saw the regulations as punitive, discriminatory and unnecessarily excessive. 

“Why are you only having short-term rentals do a registration, do all these inspections?” said Mary Ducharme, a rental owner. “That’s discriminating against short-term rentals.” 

Ducharme argued that the regulations, if put in place for short-term rentals (STRs), should be standard regulations for every home in town, including year-round rentals and accessory dwelling units. She felt that the system unfairly attacked short-term rentals with stricter living and safety standards. 

One of the safety rules that was brought up a number of times was the amount of smoke detectors required. 

According to Town Planner Jon Idman, after conversations with the Brewster Fire Department, building commissioner and health director, language was added to the regulations that would require every bedroom to be equipped with at least one smoke detector. The measure is more strict than the state standards which only require detectors outside of sleeping areas; for example, in a hallway outside multiple bedrooms. 

“Brewster is proposing a heightened requirement to have a smoke detector in every bedroom, at least at a minimum, a battery-operated one,” said Idman. 

Some speakers and board members questioned whether the requirement might be too burdensome, especially for older homes. Select Board Member Pete Dahl noted many older homes may already comply with current code by having detectors in hallways near bedrooms and asked whether adding one inside every room was necessary.

A local rental operator, Bruce Riley, supported the safety precautions, but questioned whether the maximum occupancy was fair. 

“I’m not against the idea of having a regulation or a bylaw at all,” he said. “All the safety stuff I’m totally down with.”

The regulations call on Title 5 and housing code square footage standards to determine occupancy. Idman said that in some cases, if the square footage isn’t large enough, technically, a married couple could not sleep in the same room. 

Many argued that older Cape Cod cottages were built with smaller bedrooms, restricting the occupancy of the home. 

“You have so many bedrooms, you average two people per bedroom,” said Riley. “That should be the standard.” 

Ducharme felt that the new local rules could unfairly single out STRs compared to year-round rentals, ADUs or affordable housing.

She said in addition to state taxes, the proposed annual fee of $300 to register with the town was too high. She cited Chatham’s fee of $50, saying that was much more reasonable. Chatham is proposing to increase that fee to $200.

Those in favor of the fee said it was necessary to establish a self-funded service where there is a dedicated official in charge of inspections. 

“If it’s more than $300, that’s not going to bother me,” said Riley. “I want to have the inspections done and moving.”

James McGinnis, a member of the Brewster Association of Part-Time Residents, criticized the short-term rental task force, saying they didn’t finish their intended charge. 

“The task force that you appointed was required to do an assessment of the impact of short-term rentals on the health, safety and quality of life in the town of Brewster,” he said. “I have read all of their notes, reports…I’ve sat in on videos of their meetings. To me, they never met that requirement.”

From his perspective, the impacts of STRs on the health, safety and quality of life in Brewster are only positive, he said. He questioned why regulations needed to be in place at all, given that he sees no problem with them. 

“It’s a problem that doesn’t exist, doesn’t require to be fixed,” he said. “It’s been working for 100 years and we don’t need it.” 

Sarah Stranahan, a former member of the STR task force and current member of the housing partnership, spoke in support of the registration system, but cautioned the select board to continue monitoring STR impacts. 

“Short-term rentals are more profitable than year-round rentals, so the market tends to drive rental properties into short-term rentals rather than year-round rentals,” she said. 

She proposed that in the future, STR fees may help support attainable housing for year-round rentals. 

Ducharme ended her remarks by reminding the board how important tourism is to Brewster and the surrounding Cape Cod towns. She said the oven in her STR is rarely used because visitors are frequenting the local restaurants, just one way STRs help support the local economy. 

“Short-term rentals [are] a historic thing that happens on Cape Cod,” she said. “Cape Cod was about summer rentals.”

Select Board Member Caroline McCarley said, “We have not designed this to be punitive. We have not designed this for people to be pushed out.”

Select board vice chair Amanda Bebrin echoed a similar sentiment. She said many of the questions raised cannot be answered until a registration system is in place and the town can generate data surrounding the STR stock. 

The discussion was less a debate over whether STRs should exist and more over how much regulation is reasonable before owners feel targeted. 

The bylaw, which will be voted on at the May 4 town meeting, establishes the registration and inspection program and authorizes the town to regulate it. The regulations will not be immediately adopted if the bylaw is approved. The select board will hold additional public hearings to garner feedback before the adoption process begins. 

If approved, the formal registration and inspection program will begin Jan. 1.