City to send out mailers on new short-term rental regulations

LACONIA — The city is planning to mail notices to every property owner informing them of the new ordinance regulating short-term rentals.

The postcard-size mailers will be sent out to about 3,300 property owners by the end of the month, Planning Director Dean Trefethen said Tuesday.

Last month the City Council passed an ordinance banning short-term rentals, except in Weirs Beach, unless the owner lives on the premises for at least 150 days a year.

“The card will say that if you are engaged in this kind of activity you need to get a permit, and if you don’t have a permit you are in violation” of the ordinance, Trefethen said.

The card will also let recipients know how to view the ordinance online or how to call the Planning Department for further information.

Trefethen said his office estimates there are between 150 and 200 properties in the city which are being used for short-term rentals — either occasionally or regularly. He said the estimate is based on surveying Airbnb and other home-sharing, internet-based websites.

He figures that the city will receive 100 applications for short-term rental permits in the coming months.

The city enacted the owner-occupancy requirement for short-term rentals because of concerns by Mayor Ed Engler and some councilors that absentee owners were buying up properties for short-term rental, thereby reducing housing stock for permanent residents.

In passing the ordinance, councilors carved out an exception to the ban for those who operate summer seasonal dwelling units.