Short-term rentals in Salem

Mayor Driscoll submitted an ordinance to the City Council which would strengthen the current restrictions on short-term rentals in the city. The ordinance would do the following:

• Updates the definition of residency for own-occupied units.
• Broadens the role for enforcement of short-term rentals to include police, fire, health, and currently included building inspectors.
• Short-term rental listings must now include a “Certificate of Fitness”
• Specifies that Salem may seek injunctive relief against a booking agent or listing platform that does not agree to de-list ineligible listings

• Eliminates the “featured short-term rental designation”, as no current owner has yet benefited from the designation, and it has not been found to improve compliance with the existing short-term rental ordinance.

In addition, Mayor Kim Driscoll filed two Orders with the Salem City Council which would accept the necessary provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) to enable the city to collect a community impact fee (CIF) of 3.0% from two types of short-term residential rental properties:

• 2-family and 3-family dwellings that include the operator’s primary residence. In Salem’s code, these are referred to as owner adjacent. Salem has 80 such units in total.
• Dwellings that do not include the operator’s primary residence and are therefore not considered to be owner adjacent. In Salem’s code, these are referred to as Professionally Managed Units. Salem has 7 such units in total

Per the Massachusetts General Laws (MGL), 35% of CIF revenues would be directed toward affordable housing. The remaining revenue would be considered general fund revenues.

The next Salem City Council meeting will be held on May 26. Updates will be posted to the NSR blog.