Milton council tasks planners with short-term rental ordinance

Milton Town Council has tasked the planning and zoning commission with drafting an advisory report and ordinance language related to short-term rentals within town.

The commission’s task will include reviewing short-term rental ordinances from other towns, such as Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, as well as the state code. Discussions will start at the planners’ Tuesday, Jan. 21 meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m. at Cannery Village clubhouse.

The idea for doing something about short-term rentals came from a combination of citizen comment and recent discussions by Sussex County Council regarding a proposed 3% tax on short-term rentals, discussions of which were spurred by state law that authorizes counties to enact a tax on short-term rentals; the state already has a 4.5% tax on short-term rentals.

While county council voted down the proposed 3% tax in December, Mayor John Collier said at town council’s Jan. 13 meeting that all the municipalities on the shoreline tax beyond the state’s short-term rental tax. He said Milton is likely to become attractive to people seeking a short-term rental close to the beach. 

“I don’t know what is going to come out of this resolution as far as an advisory to regulate these, but I think it's important that we take a look,” Collier said.

Councilwoman Randi Meredith said it is important for the town to find a balance and not have too many short-term rentals, as that could be detrimental to people who work in town and have long-term rentals. 

Councilman Scotty Edler said, “I think it’s important that we not overregulate and that we don’t regulate just to have regulations. But I think it’s important for us to look into this and find what makes sense and what doesn’t make sense.”

Edler said it’s important to protect long-term residents and renters, and avoid having every house turn into an Airbnb or VRBO.

“I think it's important to look at commonsense regulations to preserve the character of the town,” he said.

Councilman Tom Arkinson said, “It’s one thing if someone has a second house and they want to Airbnb it for a couple weekends and then use it themselves. But if someone is not from the area and just buying investment property for short-term rental, I think that is cause to think, ‘Is that good for this town?’”

In a letter to town council, Union Street resident Orla Kastberg said short-term/vacation rentals could be very valuable for the town, as they would bring in revenue for the town and patrons for businesses. However, Kastberg said sensible regulations are needed, and recommended ideas such as limiting short-term rentals to owner-occupied and second residences, limiting rental licenses to existing licensees plus a set number of additional licenses, and requiring annual inspections to verify continued compliance with all safety regulations.

Collier concluded, “It’s not out of hand at this time, but why wait for it to get out of hand before we act? I think it’s time to take a good look, and see what planning and zoning has to say about this.”