Gloucester Short-Term Rentals

The Gloucester City Council is considering a new ordinance that would add additional regulations on short-term rentals. Submitted by Councilor Tony Gross, the ordinance would impose the following requirements and restrictions on short-term rentals:

• One time application fee and an annual permit fee set by the City Council.
• Residential units offered as short-term rentals must be rented to one party at a time.
• The number of short-term renters must be limited to ten guests or two guests per bedroom (whichever is less).
• A unit cannot be offered in the aggregate for over 90 days per calendar year if the homeowner is not occupying the unit.
• If the homeowner is occupying the unit for the entire term of the rental, they may offer bedrooms within their primary residence as a short-term rental for 365 days a year.
• Renting for an hourly rate, or for rental durations of fewer than ten consecutive hours is not permitted. Commercial meetings or social events are prohibited in short-term rentals.
• General liability insurance of $1,000,000 or more is required to cover each short-term rental (unless the hosting platform maintains equal or greater coverage).

The proposed requirements would be in addition to the existing 3% community impact fee on short-term rentals. The short-term rental ordinance was referred to the Planning and Development Standing Committee and Planning Board for review and recommendation to the City Council.

Updates on future public meetings will be posted on the NSR Blog.