Milton Town Council has asked the town planning and zoning commission to take a deeper dive on proposals to regulate short-term rentals in the downtown area.

Council accepted an advisory report from the commission but asked for more information on other aspects of short-term rentals at its April 7 meeting. The commission did not take up short-term rentals at its April 22 meeting, so the next opportunity will be Tuesday, May 20. 

The issue of short-term rentals and the town’s attempt to do something about it resulted from the rise in Airbnb- and Vrbo-listed properties, and concerns on the part of both residents and town officials that this will lead to the town becoming inundated with vacation rentals instead of owner-occupied properties. Both council and commission have expressed a desire to get ahead of the issue before it becomes a bigger problem.

The commission finalized its report March 18, after holding two public meetings and a public workshop to brainstorm and solicit feedback. In addition, the commission studied similar ordinances from surrounding towns, including Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, and much of the language in the commission’s proposal is based on Lewes regulations.

The report and ordinance define short-term rentals as a residential dwelling unit that is rented for 30 days or fewer. The maximum occupancy of a short-term rental would be two people per bedroom, with an exception for children 6 years old or younger. The rental must have a local contact person available 24 hours a day to take phone calls about potential problems and to be physically present on the property within one hour. Complaints would be handled at town hall during regular business days or by the police at all other times. Both town hall and the police will have the telephone number of the local contact person.

Guests at short-term rental properties cannot hold commercial activities or events open to the public, and the owner is responsible for providing a good neighbor brochure, which the town would provide, to every renter. Advertising for the rental must include information such as the occupancy limits, prohibition on commercial activities and parking regulations. 

Finally, three or more violations of town regulations on short-term rentals would be grounds for the unit’s license to be revoked and have a new license delayed by one year.

Councilman Scotty Edler said while he likes using Airbnbs personally and has no problem with them in town, he wanted to avoid a situation where whole blocks of downtown consist of them. 

“It is something we have to start thinking about. How in the world are we going to prevent neighborhoods of these things popping up in the downtown district? And I don’t really see that addressed here,” he said.

Edler added that long-term rentals are also not addressed in the commission’s report, which is important because long-term renters work downtown. Much of the focus of the commission’s report is on the downtown area, as most of the developments outside town have restrictive covenants that do not allow for short-term rentals.

Vice Mayor Lee Revis-Plank said she was hoping to see some kind of fee or structure that would go toward helping the town cover the extra administrative costs that would come with the commission’s proposals. She said there is also no mention of not allowing parking on unpaved areas.

“I’m not real happy with all this,” she said.

Councilman Robert Gray said he was hoping to see a bit more of a holistic approach than what the commission delivered, with different types of rentals looked at through the view of the town’s comprehensive development plan. 

“Until we have a vision of what Milton is going to be in terms of rental units, 20 years, 10 years, 15 years from now, we’re really working at cross-purposes. We’re trying to fix a problem where it might not be a problem,” he said.