Town of Wells, ME Article X Lodging Facilities

§ 150-81 Findings, purpose and authority.

A. The Town of Wells is in part a seasonal resort community and as such has a large number of lodging facilities. These lodging facilities have historically provided tourists and other visitors both short-term and seasonal accommodations within the Town, to the benefit of both tourists and local residents and businesses, by supporting the local economy and adding to the tax base. Lodging facilities are subject to different zoning and other land use regulations than residential uses such as single- or two-family homes or multi-unit developments.

B. Pursuant to statute, the Town licenses motels, hotels, cabins, housekeeping cottages, seasonal cottages and seasonal cottage complexes, bed-and-breakfasts, inns and other places of temporary lodging. The Town must ensure that such units are used for their intended and historical purpose of temporary accommodations for tourists and other visitors to the community, since the transformation of lodging facilities into year-round or seasonal residences would place an undue burden on municipal infrastructure and services, including but not limited to schools, social services, transportation and road services, police and fire protection, emergency rescue services and solid waste disposal. This article, enacted pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3811 and the Town's constitutional and statutory home rule powers, is intended to accomplish these results.

[Amended 11-2-2004]

§ 150-82 Licensing board.

The municipal officers shall be the licensing board for the issuance of lodging facility licenses. Applications for a license to operate a lodging facility shall be made to the Town Clerk on the forms provided for that purpose.

A. Meetings. The licensing board shall meet annually during the month of May on a date and at a time and place in Wells that the board determines convenient. A notice stating the date, time and place of the meeting and its purpose shall be posted in two public places in Wells at least seven days prior to the meeting.

B. Licenses. The licensing board shall consider all applications for the license required by this article and determine whether to issue a license in accordance with the procedures set forth in this chapter and in 30-A M.R.S.A. §§ 3811 to 3814. If the application complies with the requirements of state law, this chapter and other applicable Town ordinances and regulations, either with or without conditions, the licensing board shall issue the license in accordance with § 150-83 hereof. A license shall not be granted to any applicant whose application does not demonstrate compliance with all applicable requirements. If the licensing board denies a license or imposes conditions other than the standard conditions of approval specified in § 150-83 hereof, the decision shall be in writing and shall include a statement of the reasons for the action taken and the facts upon which the action was based.

§ 150-83 Standard conditions of approval.

The following shall be standard conditions of approval applicable to each license issued pursuant to this article, unless the licensing board for good cause shown waives one or more of these standard conditions in writing:

A. Occupancy and departure registries. The licensed lodging facility shall be operated in conformity with the requirements of 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3801 et seq. governing innkeepers and lodging facilities, including keeping a register and a record of departure, as required by § 3821, which shall reference every person renting or occupying any room or unit, including arrival and departure dates.

[Amended 11-2-2004]

B. Office.

[Amended 11-2-2004]

(1) All lodging facilities constructed after May 1, 2007, regardless of the number of units, shall maintain an office on the licensed premises or within 150 feet of the lodging facility’s site boundaries. Except as otherwise provided in Subsection 2, all lodging facilities constructed prior to May 1, 2007 having 10 or more units shall maintain an office on the licensed premises or within 150 feet of the lodging facility’s site boundaries. Except as otherwise provided in Subsection (2), if a lodging facility constructed prior to May 1, 2007 has less than 10 units, the Selectmen may waive the office requirement if the Selectmen find: (1) that adequate provision has been made to enable the public to reach an innkeeper and/or rental manager after hours; and (2) that there is public telephone access either on-site, or, within 150 feet of the lodging facility’s site boundaries. If granted, such a waiver shall be filed with the lodging facility’s business license and shall remain in effect so long as all of the conditions upon which it was granted continue to be satisfied. The office shall be open for business at any time when any unit is available for initial rental or initial occupancy by any person, including a unit owner. Office hours and a procedure for reaching the innkeeper or a rental/management agent after hours shall be posted in a conspicuous place in or near the entrance to the office and in each unit. If requested by the Fire Chief, a master key or keys to all units shall be placed in a Knox Box or its functional equivalent, located on site and accessible to the Fire Department.

[Amended 4-27-2007]

(2) A licensed lodging facility operating under an approved site plan that does not designate an office or designates an office located more than 150 feet from the lodging facility site boundaries or operating without site plan approval since before March 8, 1985, is exempt from the office requirement, provided:

(a) The innkeeper provides documentation, satisfactory to the Municipal Officers, indicating that the facility has been operating without an office since at least March 1, 1985, or that the approved site plan for the facility does not indicate an office. The innkeeper must provide this information to the Municipal Officers only during the year in which the applicant first seeks to demonstrate that this exception is applicable. If the lodging facility has an off-site office not located within 150 feet of the lodging facility's site boundaries, the facility may not discontinue use of that office unless an amended site plan is approved pursuant to Chapter 145 of this Code and an office that meets the standards in the first paragraph of this Subsection B is provided.

(b) The innkeeper annually provides a written description of how the innkeeper registers guests or occupants, how the registry and departure records are kept current, and how keys are distributed. The procedure used must comply with the requirements of this chapter.

(c) The innkeeper annually provides evidence that it employs a manager, or contracts with an agent, who is responsible for updating the records on a daily basis and for providing an emergency contact who is available on site or is on call 24 hours a day in case of emergency.

(d) The innkeeper posts a sign at the lodging facility indicting the name and phone number of the innkeeper, the rental agent or the manager, including an after hours emergency phone number. This sign shall be posted in a location that is visible 24 hours per day, and a copy of the sign or a sheet including the same information shall be provided to each registered guest and unit owner or placed in a prominent location in each unit.

C. Occupancy restrictions. Units in lodging facilities shall not be occupied as a residence. Any of the following activities by a unit owner or occupant shall be evidence that the unit is being occupied as a residence:

[Amended 11-7-2000]

(1) Registering a boat or motor vehicle in Maine using an address in Wells, including use of a post office box as an address;

(2) Registering to vote in Wells;

(3) Listing Wells as an address on any state or federal tax form;

(4) Enrolling a child or children in any public or private day school in Wells; or

(5) Obtaining a Maine driver's license using Wells, Maine as the town of residence.

D. The Code Enforcement Officer shall have the right to inspect the register and the record of departures as well as state lodging tax records for any licensed lodging facility or for any unit contained therein during normal business hours and to copy the same at the Town's expense.

E. A copy of the license issued and the conditions imposed thereon by this article and any particular conditions of approval imposed pursuant to § 150-82 hereof shall be posted in a conspicuous place near the register and delivered, by mail or personally, to each owner other than the innkeeper by June 15 of each year. The innkeeper shall keep a record of the owner or owner(s) notified and the date thereof.

F. Such other conditions of approval as the licensing board finds reasonably necessary to ensure that lodging facility operations will conform to the requirements hereof.

§ 150-84 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 11-7-2000]

Any violation of this article or 30-A M.R.S.A. §§ 3801 to 3872 or the failure to abide by any license condition shall constitute a violation of this article. The innkeeper and the owner and any occupant of a room or unit in a lodging facility involved in the violation are each liable for any violation of this article, including a civil penalty of not more than $500 per day. Each day the violation is allowed to continue, after notice thereof, constitutes a separate violation.

§ 150-85 Enforcement; revocation or suspension of license.

The licensing board shall enforce this article and shall prosecute any violations in the manner and following the procedure specified in 30-A M.R.S.A. §§ 3812, 3814, 3821 and 3871, including but not limited to revocation or suspension of a license. A violation of the standard conditions of approval or special conditions of approval may constitute sufficient cause to suspend or revoke a license, if the licensing board determines that the violation is intentional or if the violation continues after written notice that a violation is occurring and must be corrected. The preceding sentence is not a limitation on the discretion conferred upon the licensing board by 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3814 or by this chapter to suspend or revoke a license for other reasons.