New Fairfield adopts short-term rental regulations - Danbury News Times

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New Fairfield adopts short-term rental regulations

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NEW FAIRFIELD — New zoning regulations pertaining to short-term rentals will go into effect in about six weeks, and some short-term rental property owners are not happy about it.

An amendment to Section 3.1.1 of New Fairfield’s zoning regulations was approved by a two-to-one vote during the Zoning Commission’s Jan. 8 meeting.

The new regulations will allow rentals of six or fewer days as long as a property owner obtains a zoning permit, pays $500 for that permit every 24 months, has a certificate of insurance for the proposed use, and lives on either the same property as the rental or an abutting property.

The amendment also limits short-term rental occupancy to two people per bedroom, and the issuance of zoning permits for short-term rentals will be based upon a Zoning Commission-approved site plan.

“I think it’s going to affect property values and everything in a negative way,” said Steven Chila, a Weston-based real estate broker whose family owns a lakefront rental property in New Fairfield.

“You want to bring people to New Fairfield. It’s a sleepy little town, there’s not much going on — but you’ve got the beautiful lake there. Why not bring people from the city or whatever who want to pay to stay there? It helps everybody,” he said.

Chila said he thinks the short-term rental regulations reflect the small-mindedness of people “who don’t like change.”

“It’s going to keep property values down because people can’t help subsidize their mortgage payments with rentals. That’s going to drive the prices of all the houses down. People don’t think. That’s how I see it,” he said.

Chila, who has multiple rental properties across the state, said he and his wife plan to retire to their New Fairfield property, so the rule regarding where rental property owners reside won’t have a huge impact on him.

“For us, it’s whatever — we’re going to be there full-time at some point,” he said.

Public hearings on short-term rentals in town had been held since at least August 2018, with residents expressing their thoughts and concerns about Airbnb and other short-term rentals that have popped up around town.

Some said the online rental service had helped them keep or improve their homes, while others contended that the renters often packed large groups into small houses and strained septic systems, crowded parking or disturbed neighbors.

Zoning officials have noted the need to balance any regulations with the town’s tradition of renting lakeside properties.

The amended regulation will go into effect March 1.

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