Superior Court Judge Samuel Hoar ruled this week that Burlington has broad authority to regulate short-term rentals in the city.
A group of that the city overstepped its authority when it passed restrictions on short-term rentals 鈥� they include a requirement that, in most cases, property owners live on the same lot or building as the short-term rental. The city can issue a $100 ticket for violations of the ordinance.
Burlington鈥檚 ordinance defines short-term rentals as units that are rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days, and for more than 14 days in a 12-month period.
The lawsuit claimed that state law only allows regulation of short-term rentals for the purpose of promoting a municipality's health, safety and welfare, and that duration limits and occupancy requirements for rentals don鈥檛 promote any of the categories spelled out in the statute.
But Hoar, in a Nov. 19 decision, wrote state law clearly allows municipalities to impose these regulations, and that the city's intention with the ordinance was to promote more long-term housing in the city, which is a public benefit.
鈥淭he relationship between a lack of available long-term housing and strains on the housing market, with impacts on homelessness, is intuitive, as is the consequent impact on a municipality鈥檚 general welfare,鈥� Hoar said in his decision. 鈥淭hus, the City鈥檚 regulation of short-term rentals bears an obvious and rational relation to public welfare, health, and safety.鈥�
Burlington is . An found homes listed on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo have grown rapidly, raising concerns that short-term rentals are taking housing units out of the rental market and making the state鈥檚 housing crisis worse.
Advocates for the short-term rental industry have argued that they shouldn鈥檛 be scapegoated for the state鈥檚 housing shortage, and that a patchwork of regulations could hurt Vermont鈥檚 tourism economy.
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