Quote:
Originally Posted by Heaven
Many of the parameters you mentioned can be set in the zoning language. There is lots of flexibility.
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Indeed.
From my experience in Gilford, it took 3 years to craft a zoning ordinance that was acceptable to the voters in town. It was aimed primarily at the commercial operators since they were the ones people were having the most problems with. It required a change to the town's noise ordinance because at the time an "unamplified human voice" was not considered noise...unless you have a bunch of drunken people being loud and obnoxious at 3AM. Sounds pretty loud then.
The town changed the noise ordinance to redefine noise, eliminating the "unamplified human voice" exception and giving the local gendarmes the ability to quiet things down up to including arresting offenders after 11pm, if memory serves regarding the cut-off time.
The commercial STRs require a Conditional Use Permit from the Planning Board. One of the problems the town had with some of the STRs was no one knew who actually owned them. Because of that one of the requirements for the permits was an emergency contact within a 1 hour drive of the property to handle emergencies should something occur if the owner(s) were 'from away'. It also allowed the town to address any chronic problems with the rental property or the folks renting it. The town also has the power to suspend or revoke the permits which then means the owners can't rent out their STR.
The town's zoning ordinance has some flexibility into granting permits, but has clearly defined conditions under which permits can be suspended or revoked.
However, Gilford's circumstances are somewhat different than Meredith's and any solution Meredith creates needs to address the unique conditions that exist there versus any of the other towns. I would expect there would be some similarities if Meredith goes along the same path as Gilford, but they won't be identical by any means.