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.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ADVERTISING
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.
DWELLING UNIT
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.
GOOD NEIGHBOR GUIDELINES
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.
OWNER
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.
RESIDENTIAL RENTAL ACCOMMODATIONS
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.
SEASONAL RENTAL ACCOMMODATION COMPLEX
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.
SHORT-TERM RENTAL
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, seasonal rental accommodation complexes, and residential rental
accommodations.
SHORT-TERM RENTAL GUEST
Any person who rents, licenses, occupies or has the right
to occupy a dwelling unit for less than 30 consecutive days.
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.
The Town Clerk 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.
(1) Smoke alarms. Smoke alarms shall be installed in the following locations:
(b)
Outside each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity
of the bedrooms.
(c)
On each additional story of the dwelling, including basements
and habitable attics.
(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;
(3) Failure to comply with the parking provisions of §
129-7D of this chapter;
(4) Failure to comply with the rental occupancy limits of §
129-7F of this chapter;
(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.
The Town Clerk 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) 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.
C. Effective date. This chapter and all the licensing standards contained
herein shall go into effect on January 1, 2022.
The Board of Selectmen may adopt regulations implementing the
provisions of this chapter.