CLAREMONT — In a 5-1 vote, the City Council approved a new ordinance that will give the city control over short-term rentals by requiring a conditional use permit from the Planning Board.

The final approval and adoption at the second reading is expected at the Aug. 14 council meeting.

“This will give us a set of eyes on each applicant,” Planning and Development Director Nancy Merrill said. “We will know where they are so this is a step in the right direction.”

The ordinance provides structure and city oversight to short-term rentals and grants the city the ability to shut them down if they are in violation of the ordinance and their permit, said Councilor Nick Koloski and Assistant Mayor Deb Matteau, who are council representatives on the Planning Board, which crafted the language and discussed the issue at length.

Currently, if the city learns of a short-term rental, which are prohibited, it sends a letter ordering it to shut down and the city could have to take court action, which may or may not be successful, Koloski said.

“This puts in a system of checks and balances,” Koloski said.

The ordinance lists limits on the number of people who can occupy a short-term rental for up to 30 days, and requires the applicant to provide details on trash removal and parking. When someone applies for a permit, abutters are notified and a public hearing is held.

The ordinance is a “happy medium” between allowing property owners to use their property as they want while giving the city control with regulations, Koloski said,

The ordinance offers an opportunity for a service that is needed with so few hotels in the city, Matteau said.

“This will provide us with an option to give people short-term rentals,” Matteau said. “This provides us with something we don’t have now but we need.”

Councilor Wayne Hemingway, who voted against the ordinance, thought the city will not be able to control the 30-day limit and also worried about the possible adverse effect in neighborhoods.

“We could lose sight of this,” Hemingway said. “It is a good plan but I’m concerned about the effect it is going to have on some of the neighborhoods (...) being inundated with Airbnb with eight to 12 (people) and now you have to listen to parties and everything else going on right next door. You should be able to live in a family environment that is for families, not transients.”

Hemingway said he wanted to see the type of zone, such as commercial, rural or residential, where short-term rentals are allowed, reduced and said this ordinance is a step backwards toward the goal of having more housing. The ordinance allows short-term rentals in all zones except industrial.

“I would like to see it less intrusive on the whole city,” Hemingway said.

Supporters of the ordinance said they do not see Claremont experiencing some of the problems now seen in communities that attract more tourists and vacationers, such as lakeside towns. But if problems arise, the city can come back and take another look at the ordinance.

“We will have to see how it works,” Merrill said. “We can now track people and if we find we are being overrun with applications with long-term housing being impacted, the council can rethink it.”

Matteau noted that the Airbnb platform is another level of oversight and that those found in violation of the ordinance can be kicked off the platform.

The conditional use permits have to be renewed annually. The first two violations result in daily fines and on the third violation, the owner has to appear before the Planning Board and could have the permit revoked.

"We will have to see how it works," Matteau said. "It is new to us so we may have to tweak it. I think it is going to be a good thing for Claremont."

In addition to Matteau and Koloski, councilors William Greenrose and Jonathan Hayden, and Mayor Dale Girard voted for the ordinance. Councilors William Limoges, Brian Zutter and Andrew O'Hearne were absent.

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.