The purpose of this chapter is to require the disclosure and licensing of short-term rentals operated within the Town of Kennebunkport. Furthermore, this chapter is intended to ensure that residential neighborhoods are not unduly impacted by the operation of short-term rentals within the Town. This will be accomplished by a licensing program that enables the Town to monitor and track the proliferation of short-term rentals within its borders, includes modest performance standards intended to protect property owners, renters, and neighbors along with limits to the numbers of short-term rentals within the community. Due to the historic nature and long-standing tradition of short-term rentals within the Goose Rocks Beach neighborhood, this limited area will not be subject to licensing limits; it will, however, still be subject to all other requirements in this chapter.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Kennebunkport 6-8-2021. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 6-11-2024; 11-4-2025]
A.
Permitted short-term rentals. Legally existing residential dwelling units may be used as short-term rentals upon the issuance of a short-term rental license for the premises in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
B.
Prohibited short-term rentals. No person may offer for rent, operate, or otherwise use any dwelling unit in the Town of Kennebunkport for short-term rentals if:
(1)
Such person has not secured or maintained a valid short-term rental license for the premises; or
(2)
The accommodations are an accessory apartment constructed or permitted after November 3, 2009, or a recreational vehicle, trailer or tent; or
(3)
The units (whether designated as affordable or not) are within an affordable housing development constructed or permitted after July 1, 2024. This prohibition applies during the duration of the long-term affordability restriction applicable to the affordable housing development set forth in § 240-7.15.
C.
Lodging establishments exempt. The following lodging establishment uses are exempt from the licensing requirements and standards of this chapter: hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts, inns, as defined in Chapter 240, lodging establishments, seasonal rental accommodation complexes, and residential rental accommodations.
[Amended 11-4-2025]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Any form of communication for marketing that is used to encourage, persuade or manipulate viewers, readers or listeners into contracting for goods and/or services as may be viewed through various media, including, but not limited to, newspapers, magazines, flyers, handbills, television commercials, radio, signage, direct mail, websites or text messages.
One or more rooms arranged for complete, independent housekeeping purposes with space for living and sleeping; space or facilities for eating or cooking; and provisions for sanitation. For purposes of this chapter, recreational vehicles are not considered dwelling units.
A document prepared by the Town that summarizes the general rules of conduct, consideration, and respect, including, without limitation, provisions pertaining to the use and occupancy of a dwelling unit used or occupied as a short-term rental.
See the area defined on Exhibit A.[1]
A lodging business that offers rooms or suites, for less than 30 days of occupancy, that may have independent sanitary and cooking amenities in a room or rooms for use by guests. Examples include but are not limited to: motels, hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, and inns as defined in Chapter 240, and the use has been approved or is subject to approval by the Town's Planning Board under Chapter 240.
An individual person or persons or an entity that is the owner of record of real property as documented by deed or other document evidencing ownership recorded at the York County Registry of Deeds.
The permitted accessory use of no more than two bedrooms in a legally existing dwelling or dwelling unit. This dwelling unit shall be an owner-occupied dwelling. Rooms rented may be for either short-term or long-term rental to a roomer who may be unrelated to the owner or occupant of the unit. Individual rooms shall be rented no more than once per week. For purposes of this definition, a "week" shall be defined as Monday through Sunday.
A lodging business located on one parcel of land that makes a room, a group of rooms, and/or cottages available for a tenancy of less than 30 days on a seasonal basis.
The use, control, management or operation of a legally existing residential dwelling unit offered for rent for transient occupancy for dwelling, sleeping or lodging purposes by short-term rental guests for a tenancy of less than 30 consecutive days, for compensation, directly or indirectly, excluding motels, hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, inns, lodging establishments, seasonal rental accommodation complexes, and residential rental accommodations.
Any person who rents, licenses, occupies or has the right to occupy a dwelling unit for less than 30 consecutive days.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said map is on file in the Town offices.
[Amended 11-4-2025]
A.
License required: No short-term rental shall be advertised, rented, or operated without first obtaining a short-term rental license. A short-term rental license shall be valid for the calendar year for which the license is issued. The property must remain in compliance with the short-term rental license for the calendar year in which the license is issued.
(1)
Short-term rental license renewal. Short-term rental licenses shall expire on December 31 of each calendar year, and short-term rental license holders may renew such license by submitting a renewal application, via a renewal process established by the Town. After the effective date of this chapter, any duly licensed short-term rental may continue operating as long as the license is current and renewed on or before the annual renewal deadline established by the Town. If the license is not renewed within the prescribed time frame, the license expires, and this protection clause no longer applies. Any renewal application received after the advertised deadline for submission shall be considered late and deemed a new application.
(3)
Limitation on number of licenses on a lot: Except in § 129-4A(3)(b) below, no more than two or 50% of the dwelling units on a lot, whichever is greater, may be issued by the Code Enforcement Officer for a lot as defined in Chapter 240 that is described in a deed or instrument recorded in the York County Registry of Deeds.
(a)
When the lot contains a fractional number from the 50% rule mentioned above, as the result of dwelling units that exist on the lot, the total number of licenses allowed on a lot shall be rounded down to the nearest whole number.
(b)
Current license holders as of the 2025 license period with more than the maximum limit of § 129-4A(3) above, may continue to renew their existing licenses above the limit. This provision will expire with the transfer of said dwellings or lot to new owners who shall conform with the limits in § 129-4A(3) above.
B.
Nontransferability.
(1)
Short-term rental licenses issued under this chapter shall not be transferable to a new owner or location. Any change of ownership shall require a new license, except transfers of the real estate and related license in a permitted transfer. A "permitted transfer" is a transfer of the subject real estate and the related license to a permitted transferee. A "permitted transferee" includes 1) another current owner of the subject real estate; 2) the spouse, child(ren) and/or grandchild(ren), sibling, or niece or nephew of a current owner; 3) a trust for the benefit of a current owner, a current owner's spouse, a current owner's sibling, a current owner's child(ren) and/or grandchild(ren), and/or a current owner's niece or newphew; or 4) for estate planning purposes, a trust, limited-liability company (LLC), corporation or other entity, as long as the beneficiaries of the trust or owners of the entity, as applicable, are a current owner, a current owner's spouse, a current owner's child(ren) and/or grandchild(ren) of a current owner. In the case of a transfer to a permitted transferee, the permitted transferee shall become a "licensee" and an "owner," and the definition of "permitted transferee" shall apply to the new licensee/owner.
(2)
Licensees/owners shall be required to certify that they comply with the provisions of this section annually and that they have not engaged in any transfers, or been transferees in any transfers, that are not permitted transfers. See § 129-6C herein.
(3)
Licenses are limited to the dwelling unit for which they are issued and shall not be transferable to a different dwelling unit.
C.
Advertising. It shall be unlawful to advertise occupancy or use of a short-term rental that has not been licensed. Licensed short-term rentals in good standing may advertise for beyond the current licensing year. For the purposes of this section, the term "advertise" shall mean any form of communication for marketing that is used to encourage, persuade, or manipulate viewers, readers or listeners into contracting for goods and/or services as may be viewed through various media included, but not limited to, newspapers, magazines, flyers, handbills, television commercials, radio, signage, direct mail, websites or text messages. The short-term rental advertising must be consistent with the terms of the short-term rental license, and all advertisements of the short-term rental must include the current short-term rental license number.
D.
Registration record. The short-term rental owner must a) maintain accurate, up-to-date records of all rental transactions involving the short-term rental, including the number of tenants and the length of their stays, and upcoming reservations; and b) present said information to Town inspection officials upon request. Failure of the short-term rental owner to provide this information within five business days of a Town request for the same shall be considered a violation of this section.
E.
Notice. The short-term rental license holder must post in plain sight near the entrance to the short-term rental a notice that identifies the short-term rental license number, and the name, address, phone number(s), and email address of the owner of the short-term rental, and/or the owner's local contact person. Such notice may be posted in plain sight in the interior of the short-term rental. The short-term rental license holder shall also post the license provided by the Town.
[Amended 11-4-2025]
Issuance procedure:
A.
Application submission; completeness. Short-term rental license applications shall be submitted to the Code Enforcement Officer. Applications for licenses for the upcoming calendar year may be submitted beginning in October of the previous license year. The Code Enforcement Officer, or the Code Enforcement Officer's designee, shall review all applications for completeness and accuracy and in the order that they were received.
B.
Application, license fee. The Code Enforcement Officer shall provide a short-term rental application to be completed by the applicant and submitted to the Code Enforcement Officer accompanied by the short-term rental license fee as established by the Board of Selectmen. The short-term rental application shall include a nonexclusive checklist of code requirements that the property owner shall demonstrate compliance with.
C.
Code Enforcement Officer authority. The Code Enforcement Officer shall have the authority to issue a short-term rental license. The Code Enforcement Officer, or the Code Enforcement Officer's designee, shall determine if the application has been properly completed before any license is issued.
D.
E.
Transitional provisions for licensing of preexisting short-term rentals. Persons or entities who operated a legally existing residential dwelling unit as a short-term rental and who received reservations for short-term rentals at the same premises prior to the effective date of this chapter shall be required to obtain a short-term rental license for said premises by submitting an application to the Code Enforcement Officer by the advertised date, which application must contain an affidavit or other sworn statement by the owner, along with documented evidence, certifying that the premises were previously used for short-term rental use by one or more tenants for a period of less than 30 consecutive days per tenancy and for at least 14 total days in a calendar year in any one of the following years: 2019, 2020, or 2021.
(1)
Upon review and approval of a timely application submitted for a license containing sufficient evidence of previous short-term rental use as required above, the Code Enforcement Officer shall issue a license for each such premises, without the need for a prior inspection of said premises by the Code Enforcement Officer or designee as is otherwise required in § 129-5D.
F.
Issuance. If the Code Enforcement Officer, or the Code Enforcement Officer's designee, determines that the proposed short-term rental application complies with the short-term rental standards, the Code Enforcement Officer shall issue the applicant a short-term rental license in accordance with the limits established in § 129-9 below.
G.
Denial. If an application is determined to be incomplete, or containing misleading information, or the property does not qualify for a short-term license, or the applicant misses the application deadline, the Code Enforcement Officer may deny an application.
H.
Appeal. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Code Enforcement Officer to deny a short-term rental license application may appeal the decision of the Code Enforcement Officer to the Selectboard, within 30 days of the Code Enforcement Officer's decision. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Selectboard to deny a short-term rental license may appeal the decision of the Selectboard to Superior Court, pursuant to Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 80B, within 30 days of the Selectboard's decision.
The short-term rental license application shall include the following information:
A.
Location. The street address and map/block/lot number of the short-term rental property.
B.
Contact person/owner responsibility. The name of the owner of the short-term rental property and contact information, including address and telephone number. If the owner is anything other than a natural person, then the following information must also be included: the name of each individual person who has an ownership interest in any entity that is the record owner, including, without limitation, all beneficiaries of any trust, and all members and shareholders of a limited-liability company, corporation or other entity. In addition, if someone other than the owner is acting as the local contact person, contact information for that person shall also be provided. Regardless of who enters the short-term rental agreement, or who may be designated as the owner's contact person, the property owner shall be responsible for compliance with chapter provisions.
C.
For renewal applications, licensees/owners shall be required to certify annually that they have not engaged in any transfers of the licensed premises, or been transferees in any transfers, that are not permitted transfers under § 129-4B of this chapter.
D.
All information needed to demonstrate compliance with the standards listed below.
[Amended 11-4-2025]
The Code Enforcement Officer shall issue a short-term rental license upon the applicant satisfying the above requirements if the following standards are met:
A.
Code compliance. An applicant's property, without limitation, shall comply with the following building safety requirements.
(2)
Carbon monoxide alarms. If a house has an attached garage or a fuel-fired appliance, a carbon monoxide alarm shall be installed outside each bedroom in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms.
(3)
Portable fire extinguishers. At least one portable fire extinguisher shall be mounted in a prominent location. One size/type 2/A is required or two size/type 1/A extinguishers.
B.
The applicant shall provide floor plans of the dwelling unit that shows the location of the alarms and fire extinguisher(s).
C.
Sanitary waste disposal. The applicant shall submit information demonstrating that adequate sanitary waste disposal is available in compliance with the Maine Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules or that the property is served by public sewer. This shall include the total number of bedrooms included in the property, any additional sleeping space, and the total number of tenants that the property accommodates. The total number of tenants used to determine adequacy of sanitary waste disposal shall not be less than the total number of tenants that the property is advertised to accommodate. For the purpose of evaluating the adequacy of a subsurface disposal system, every two tenants shall be equivalent to one bedroom.
D.
Parking. The applicant shall include a depiction designating parking spaces that will be provided for tenants and guests on the same lot where the short-term rental is located. Guest parking at the short-term rental shall occur in parking spaces designated by the applicant, and the number of guest vehicles allowed at the short-term rental shall be limited to the number of on-site parking spaces designated by the applicant. Garage parking spaces not allowed for tenant use shall not be used to meet the short-term rental parking requirement. Tenants and guests of short-term rentals are prohibited from parking in a manner that impedes access by emergency vehicles to the property or any other dwelling in the neighborhood.
E.
Good neighbor guidelines.
F.
Occupancy limits. The maximum tenant occupancy of a short-term rental shall be limited to no more than two tenants per bedroom, plus two additional tenants total for the entire dwelling unit. By way of example, the maximum tenant capacity for a three-bedroom dwelling short-term rental is eight tenants (i.e., three bedrooms multiplied by two tenants, plus an additional two tenants, for a total of eight).
A license for a short-term rental may be conditioned, suspended, or revoked by the Board of Selectmen after a public hearing if the Board of Selectmen determine that a violation of this chapter, any applicable statute, ordinance, or regulation, or short-term rental license certification, condition, or criteria has occurred.
A.
Violations of this chapter. Violations of this chapter include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1)
Providing false or misleading information on an application, or renewal application, for a short-term rental license;
(2)
Failure to provide the registration records as provided in § 129-4D within five business days of a Town request for such records;
(5)
Failure to acquire and/or display the required short-term rental license number or include the license number in any advertising of the licensed premises;
(6)
Violation of any short-term rental license certification, condition, or criteria;
(7)
Violation of any statute, ordinance, or regulation applicable to the short-term rental property.
B.
Complaints concerning short-term rentals. The Code Enforcement Officer shall establish and maintain a log of all complaints for each short-term rental received and substantiated by the Town. The Code Enforcement Officer shall seek the correction of all substantiated complaints by the short-term rental license holder.
C.
Suspension or revocation of license. When, in the judgement of the Code Enforcement Officer, the nature and/or number of complaints warrants further review of the short-term rental license, the Code Enforcement Officer shall provide a report of the same to the Board of Selectmen for its consideration. The Board of Selectmen may condition, suspend, or revoke a short-term rental license, following a public hearing, on the basis of the licensee's noncompliance with this chapter, any applicable law, ordinance, or regulation, or short-term rental license certification, condition, or criteria.
D.
Appeal. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Board of Selectmen to suspend or revoke a short-term rental license may appeal the decision of the Board of Selectmen to Superior Court, pursuant to Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 80B, within 30 days of the Board of Selectmen's decision.
[Amended 11-4-2025]
The Code Enforcement Officer shall issue short-term rental licenses on an annual basis. The total number of licenses issued in each calendar year shall be set annually by the Board of Selectmen. The limitation on the total number of licenses set by the Board of Selectmen shall first go into effect on January 1, 2023.
A.
Formula. The total number of licenses issued in each calendar year shall be set by the Board of Selectmen annually according to a formula based in part upon a percentage of the total number of residential dwelling units in the Town of Kennebunkport.
B.
Goose Rocks Beach Neighborhood. No short-term rental located in the Goose Rocks Beach Neighborhood (as depicted on the attached map[1]) shall be advertised, rented, or operated as a short-term rental without first obtaining a short-term rental license. Licensed short-term rentals located in the Goose Rocks Beach Neighborhood (as depicted on the attached map) shall not be counted towards the total number of short-term rental licenses to be set annually by the Board of Selectmen under § 129-9A herein, and to be issued on an annual basis thereafter by the Town.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said map is on file in the Town offices.
C.
Effective date. This chapter and all the licensing standards contained herein shall go into effect on January 1, 2022.
A.
In the event the owner or owner's short-term rental guests violate this chapter or the terms and conditions of the license, the Town, in addition to the suspension or revocation of the then-current license pursuant to § 129-8 above, may also prohibit the owner from licensing the dwelling unit for 12 months following the current licensing expiration date, after which the owner may submit a new application for licensure.
B.
Violations shall also be subject to fines and penalties as set forth in this section and in a penalty schedule established by the Board of Selectmen.
C.
Any such fines or penalties may be in addition to any suspension or revocation imposed in accordance with the provisions of § 129-8 of this chapter.
D.
The Town may institute or cause to be instituted any and all actions, legal or equitable, that may be appropriate or necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter. In any court action, the Town may seek injunctive relief in addition to or instead of fines/penalties. The Town shall be entitled to recover its costs of enforcement, including its reasonable attorneys' fees.
The Board of Selectmen may adopt regulations implementing the provisions of this chapter.