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To the Editor:

I write to correct the errors made in the May 22nd front-page article, “Short term rental ordinance set for recommendation to the City Council.”

Your May 22nd article on the short-term rental (STR) ordinance was based on a rather old version of the ordinance, which went through many changes and versions.  The City Council passed the STR ordinance on May 23rd, and it will take effect on January 1, 2020.

The new law does NOT allow adjacent units to be STRed by the owner of a property for any number of days or nights.

The new law does NOT require registration with the City to operate an STR.

The new law allows only two types of STRs:

— STR of a shared residential unit, that is offering bedrooms within one’s own unit for up to 365 days a year.  This is the traditional notion of an AirBNB, sharing one’s home.

— STR of an unoccupied residential unit, that is renting one’s own unit for up to 90 days a year when one is not occupying the unit.  This allows an owner or renter (with the landlord’s permission of course) to rent their unit out when on vacation, traveling, or staying somewhere else.

The Council voted unanimously way back on February 7th to not allow owner-adjacent units to be STRed.  It is important that property owners in Somerville understand that the new law will not allow them to rent an entire unoccupied adjacent unit as an STR, even if it is in the same building in which they live.  The main reason for this was that renting entire unoccupied units as STRs takes them out of the rental housing market, further reducing the supply of housing in the City, driving up rents, and increasing the number of people passing through who are not part of and do not contribute to the community.

The Council decided not to impose a registration requirement, as it was thought to be a burden for those who operate STRs, as well as an administrative cost for the Inspectional Services Dept.  The prohibition on STRing entire unoccupied units, the problem of greatest concern, can be enforced without registration.

In summary, the ordinance the City Council passed states what is allowed for STRs.   The City plans to enforce this law, especially upon owners who take units out of the rental market to make them permanent STR units.  For additional information and the text of the new ordinance, go to www.somervillema.gov/strs

Mark Niedergang
Ward 5 City Councilor