ADAMS, Mass. — Short-term rentals, a topic of extensive debate in towns and cities throughout the county, have now come before the Board of Health.

 

According to the state, the town has 45 registered short-term rentals but does not have a registration requirement to ensure they are up to sanitary and safety standards, David Rhinemiller, code enforcement officer, said during Wednesday's meeting. 

 

The town needs to look into a registration process, whether it is through a permit with the board or updating the town's bylaws, he said. 

 

Updating the town's bylaws would be a lengthy process, requiring the Planning Board to draft the bylaw, a public hearing, and ultimate approval by voters at town meeting.

 

"If it's a zoning issue, then it would be a zoning bylaw change. If it is just a Board of Health, then it would just be a regulation that would be put in place," Rhinemiller said. 

 

Updating the board's regulations would be more immediate than going through the process of changing the town's bylaws, which is what other communities have done. North Adams instituted a tiered ordinance three years ago that requires annual inspections, registration and a fee.

 

Adams has regulations dictating apartment rentals be inspected every time a new tenant moves in. Additionally, there are regulations requiring boarding units, housing units, and hotels to get an annual inspection once a year, Rhinemiller said.

 

The town wouldn't want an inspection process that would be as rigid as the apartment rentals every time they're vacated because the units are booked as weekly or daily, he continued.

 

"There's also no revenue coming into the town. These places rent out anywhere from $100 at night to $350 a night. So there's no taxation like there is in regular motels," he said. 

 

Board member Lisa Mendel believed that updating the rules and regulations is unnecessary, citing her four years of experience renting her property on Airbnb, where the platform's rating system helps ensure properties remain in good condition.

 

"I already think that we kind of have enough rules and regulations, and if something was unsafe, the rating system would indicate it as such," she said. 

 

"I mean, I used to get comments like 'you didn't have a box of Kleenex in every room.' So, people who are renting are looking for those things," Mendel said. 

 

"Clearly, if there was a misfunction of the toilet, they would be right on with Airbnb to get their money back." 

 

The issue is, not all the short-term rentals in town are on Airbnb, Rhinemiller said. "We have 45 of them and only five of them are listed on Airbnb."

 

There needs to be some sort of regulations, but they do not have to be overly restrictive, board Chair Kathy Hynes said. 

 

"I have a problem with not having a yearly inspection," she said. 

 

Having a yearly inspection is important because some people may have short-term rentals just for the money or as a side hustle, so property maintenance may be overlooked, Hynes said.

 

Hynes said, based on her experience in medicine and dog rescue, being ethical in one's profession does not guarantee ethical behavior in side pursuits.

 

"I don't think we need to go do the zoning and all this stuff … I think that's a little overkill," she said. 

 

"But I see nothing wrong with a yearly inspection. And if you're doing all the right things, I don't think you'd have a problem with somebody coming in to make sure you're doing all the right things."

 

Rhinemiller stated he would conduct further research to identify options for the town and present his findings at a future meeting. Hynes added that she would contact other towns to learn how they are addressing short-term rentals.