Short Term Rentals
2025 Updates
2025 Council goals include the short-term rental registration process that was temporarily paused last fall. The Long-Range Planning Committee will take this up in April and May to review before moving to Ordinance Committee and Council, allowing for more public feedback and fresh perspective on the proposal.
Staff met with a group of stakeholders on April 3, 2025. (View recording) The group included both homeowners and representatives of short-term rental properties. The meeting was very informative, and they recommended several amendments to the original fall 2024 draft. Those amendments can be found here: Draft STR Ordinance 4.11.25 Long-Range Planning Committee will review this draft on April 11, 2025.
The proposed timeline (subject to change) for this process is as follows:
On-going: Stakeholder Input Via Direct Emails and Social Media
April 11, 2025: LRPC Review - Moved to forward with no comment
Late April 2025: Engage Services to determine existing rentals on public sites and create direct mailing list to send public meeting notification
May 15: Stakeholder meeting/workshop 5:00-6:30 pm in the Public Safety Classroom Click here to watch
May 15 - July 1: Public Comment Period
July 9, 2025: Ordinance Committee
Late July: Send out second direct mail to known STR owners
August 2025: Town Council First Reading
August/September 2025: Town Council Public Hearing
September 2025: Town Council Second Reading and Adoption:
September/October 2025 – December 31, 2025: Implementation and registration period
Please contact Autumn Speer, Planning Director for more information or to provide comments.
Background
The Town of Scarborough is considering the creation of a Short-Term Rental Ordinance. Scarborough is one of few neighboring communities who do not have an ordinance already, but does have a Planning & Code Enforcement Policy, "'Airbnb' Use of or Within Dwelling Units". A Short-Term Rental (STR) Ordinance will establish regulations and tracking of STRs in Scarborough. In September 2023, the Ordinance Committee began the process of understanding what other communities are doing, what is effective, what if anything should be done and how big is the issue locally.
Timeline
July 13, 2023: Ordinance Committee reviewed short term rentals (View recording)
September 14, 2023: Ordinance Committee reviewed short term rentals (View recording)
November 2, 2023: Council Corner Live on short term rentals (view details below)
June 26, 2024: Short Term Rentals Town Council Workshop (View recording)
September 11, 2024: Draft Short Term Rental Registration ordinance to be presented to the Ordinance Committee
September 2024 - Spring 2025: Planning Staff will work with stakeholders to further refine a proposal to bring before Council in early 2025.
Public Engagement
Council Corner Live
November 2, 2023
While Scarborough's coastal neighborhoods have long been a vacation destination, there is an increasing perception that the number of short-term rentals have sharply increased over the last five years and expanded into non-traditional rental neighborhoods. Many second home owners have long used rental income to offset property taxes and the cost of up-keep, but concerns are growing that the boom in rental properties are driving increasing real estate prices and that a lack of oversight may be cause for safety concerns or more frequent disturbances in otherwise quiet residential neighborhoods.
Should Scarborough regulate these properties? Should they implement registration or licensing? Should they require inspections for public health and safety? Should the Town cap how many days, weeks or months a home owner can rent a property? Should there be a minimum stay required? How do we even propose to define short term rental? All of these questions and more will be discussed. The Council welcomes your input and feedback.
Resources
STR Presentation July 13, 2023 (PDF)