East Buke in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

Municipal Leaders Share Short Term Rental Regulation Successes

Four town officials discuss their communities’ unique approach to regulating short-term rentals (STR).

In our webinar on Municipal Strategies for Managing Short Term Rentals – part of our Building the New Forest Future series – we heard from a panel of town leaders with experience in the development and implimentation of STR regulation.

Mike Morin, Vermont/New Hampshire program director at the Center, facilitated a discussion among the four panelists who gave insight into how their towns’ are mitigating the impact of STRs. We recorded the discussion for you to listen to – click the link below.

Our panelists were Emily Kilburn Politi, Town Councilor, North Elba, NY, Mike Harris, Zoning Administrator, Burke, VT, Peter Gagnon, Town Manager, Gorham, NH, and Peter Jamieson, Town Manager, Millinocket, ME.

Short-term rentals offer local lodging options in communities where there are limited traditional accommodations such as hotels and inns, but they have the potential to introduce challenges including strains on public resources, reduced housing stock for full-time residents, and disruptions in residential neighborhoods. The exploration of short-term rental regulations brings forth a diverse array of perspectives that each community needs to weigh.

Each of the four communities represented face different challenges and have created different solutions to fit their needs.

This webinar was informed in part by work done by the Center’s Adirondack Program Manager, Adam Bailey, through his Cornell University Master of Regional Planning capstone project in 2022 entitled Municipal Short-Term Rental Policies: Analysis and Recommendations for Adirondack Communities.

We hope you enjoy the recording. Please share it with others who are interested in this topic.

Building the New Forest Future: Center Webinar Series

Building the New Forest Future is a webinar series that amplifies stories, practices, and lessons from community development, sustainable tourism, and rural economy in the Northern Forest. Read more

Staff Contact

Isabella Ronson-Amrein

Program Manager

Cell: 804-912-7145