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Pending Conn. Supreme Court case could a!ect

proposed short-term rental rules

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January 10, 2024 7:25 pm • Last Updated: January 11, 2024 11:06 am

By Kimberly Drelich

Day Staff Writer

# k.drelich@theday.com

Groton ― !e town has tabled a discussion of proposed short-term rental regulations amid uncertainty over

a pending Connecticut Supreme Court case involving a Branford beach community that could have

implications for Groton and communities across the state.

!e town’s Planning and Zoning Commission also wanted to weigh more than a dozen comments from

people over the regulations that the commission has been crafting as it looks to how to handle the

controversial issue.

Residents during a public hearing Tuesday said regulations would protect their quality of life and prevent

escalating housing costs, while short-term rental owners raised concerns about “over-regulation” and said

renting out their properties helps them a"ord to live in town.

Groton is among the communities in the region weighing regulations. East Lyme has an ad-hoc committee

and is in the process of #guring out what to do about short-term rentals. In Preston, a six-month

moratorium on short-term rentals started on Dec. 15 so the Planning and Zoning Commission has time to

make a decision regarding whether or not they should be allowed.

Lyme adopted regulations in 2022 to allow short-term rentals of no more than 30 days for up to six rooms and

12 guests at a time. A host must live on-site whenever guests are there. Montville currently allows short-term

rentals, but they are designated as bed and breakfasts.

!e Town of Groton Planning and Zoning Commission’s proposed regulations would ban new short-term

rentals, of 30 days or less, in some town zones, while allowing them if they met certain conditions and

received approval in other zones.

Deborah Jones, the town’s assistant director of planning and development services, said that if adopted, the

regulations would only apply to new short-term rentals.

Speci#cally, the regulations would ban new short-term rentals in single-unit residential (RS) zones, heavy

industrial (IG) zones, Working Waterfront zones and green zones, according to the proposal.

Short-term rentals would be allowed, if they met certain conditions and received site plan approval, in

neighborhood commercial (CN), regional commercial (CR), and mixed-use industrial (IM) zones.

Short-term rentals would be allowed, if they received both a site plan and a special permit, in (R) residential

zones that allow one and two-unit dwellings, rural residential (RU) zones, multi-unit residential (RM) zones,

and in the mixed-use zones of downtown Mystic, downtown Groton and Poquonnock Bridge.

In residential zones, the owner or long-term lessee would be required to live on site, according to the

proposal.

!e regulations outline requirements for parking, lighting, noise and temporary events and restrict the

number of short-term rentals per lot in residential zones, according to Jones.

!e regulations would not apply to Noank, Groton Long Point and the City of Groton.

In Noank, short-term rentals are not authorized.

Pending court case

!e town’s Planning and Zoning Commission closed the public hearing on Tuesday and is slated to discuss

the proposed regulations at a later meeting. Members said they wanted time to digest the information and

also to understand the potential impacts of the court case, Frances Wihbey v. Zoning Board of Appeals of the

Pine Orchard Association.

According to court documents, the Pine Orchard Association’s Zoning Board of Appeals banned short-term

rentals in 2018 and told Wihbey he could not rent out his property, but Wihbey argued that his short-term

rental was a “protected nonconforming use under the 1994 zoning regulations, which were the governing

regulations when he bought the property and began using it for short-term rentals.”

Groton Town Attorney Rich Cody noted in written comments to Jones last !ursday that a decision in the

case before the Connecticut Supreme Court could a"ect how the town could enforce the proposed

regulations if they are adopted. Superior Court and Appellate Court decisions have said short-term rentals

are allowed in the Pine Orchard Association.

In a letter to the commission on Tuesday, Edward E. Moukawsher, an attorney for residents Heather Sutter

and Bruce McDermott, said the case will be heard in February. He said the case “will establish the law

pertaining to STRs in the State of Connecticut” and urged the commission to not take any action until the

Supreme Court “has resolved the issue of whether STRs are an allowed use in a residential zone.”

Comments from residents

At Tuesday’s hearing, people in favor of the proposed regulations said short-term rentals were driving up the

prices of homes, at a time when housing is in short supply, and having deleterious e"ects on neighborhoods.

Many short-term rental owners spoke at the hearing and said some regulation is #ne, but argued against

going too far because short-term rentals allow people to pay the taxes to live in town and bene#t the

community.

Resident Elisabeth Pendery said the proposal will “go far to protect our neighborhoods from the professional

investors that have proliferated in southeastern Connecticut and beyond.”

She said short-term rentals diminish available housing stock and exacerbate the a"ordable housing crisis in

the community, burden infrastructure, and “accelerate gentri#cation and disproportionately displace lower-

income, long term residents.“

Ellen Elfering, who owns a short-term rental home and lives in a cottage on her property, said those are

townwide issues. She said what is driving up housing costs is people moving out of cities to this beautiful

community.

She said the short-term rental owners all talk and communicate: “I feel like people want to do the right thing

and #nancially it is something that people need in their lives,” she said.

Resident Bruce McDermott thanked the commission for “common sense regulations” and said they would

help neighborhoods and quality of life.

Geo" Gordon, a resident who owns multiple short-term rentals, said it is counter intuitive to ban future

short-term rentals in the RS zones, which skew toward the neighborhoods that are walkable to downtown

Mystic, the region’s tourist hub.

k.drelich@theday.com

Day Sta! Writers Claire Bessette, Daniel Drainville and Elizabeth Regan contributed to this report.

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January 11, 2024 at 15:35

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January 11, 2024 at 14:55

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January 11, 2024 at 09:37

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In my view, the problem isn’t with the owner occupied STR’s: the person who wants to rent out a room or small

in-law apartment in their home to help meet expenses; or, the family with a vacation home the family uses

part of the year and rents other weeks to help pay taxes and upkeep. ! e problem is with outside investors

buying up multiple properties and running them as STRs. !ey’re running a business purely for pro#t and

taking housing out of the local long-term rental market. !is is exasperating our housing shortage and driving

up rents. !e later is the type of STR that needs to be curtailed.

Oh Heavens, Jessica! !ere is SO much literature on the correlation between rising housing costs and the

presence of STRs (AirBnB). Since you are in the industry, it is well that you are aware of this fact. Also, educate

yourself on the additional externalities imposed on communities by STRs. !e State Supreme Court will soon

come to a determination, and the case will hopefully be in support of communities, not real estate speculators

and outside investors.

Here’s a read: “!e dark side of the sharing economy: A systematic literature review of externalities and their

regulation” by Mohamed Mosaad, et. al., Nov 2023

Is there data behind the statement “short-term rentals diminish available housing stock and exacerbate the

a"ordable housing crisis in the community, burden infrastructure, and “accelerate gentri#cation and

disproportionately displace lower-income, long term residents.“ ? I would really like to know.

I am also curious as to how an STR has any e"ect on the “quality of life” of others. Are there instances where an

STR renter abuses the property or does something that they shouldn’t, sure, but like anything, whether you

have a new neighbor that you end up in an ongoing battle over your lot lines, mowing the lawn, partying into

the wee hours or where they can park, these things are all just chance and can happen to anyone, at any time.

Groton, along with most towns, has raised taxes each year, the average family can’t a"ord to buy a house let

alone rent one. !e long-term rental market has gone up exorbitantly in the last couple of years. What is the

problem with a homeowner having a STR to help cover the costs and not have to sell or let it go into

foreclosure?

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