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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, April 11, 2016 <br />7:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 25 of 32 <br /> <br />16. #15-3759 CITY OF ORONO TEXT AMENDMENT – SHORT-TERM (VACATION) <br />RENTALS (continued) <br /> <br />Barnhart indicated he has also been speaking with a property owner whose neighborhood has established <br />as part of their homeowners association a 30-day minimum, which is stricter than what the City is talking <br />about. At this point Staff is looking for direction on the ordinance. <br /> <br />Staff and the Planning Commission recommend approval of the ordinance as currently drafted. The <br />ordinance establishes six different criteria that are primarily intended to provide some notification to the <br />City when the property owner is renting so the City has some contact information on file and enable it to <br />be more responsive to complaints. The Planning Commission reviewed a longer version of the draft <br />ordinance that had approximately 14 criteria and they felt that some of them were redundant to other parts <br />of the City Code and were eliminated. The draft ordinance would require the property owners who are <br />engaging in short-term rentals to obtain a license from the City. <br /> <br />Walsh asked if the City Attorney has looked into being able to enforce this and what the type of <br />enforcement would be. <br /> <br />Mattick indicated the courts have not set out anything that constitutes short-term rental, such as 30 days or <br />60 days, and has deferred to the legislative intent of the Council. Mattick stated as long as there is a <br />rational basis for it, the courts have upheld the ordinances. <br /> <br />Mattick stated as it relates to the enforcement mechanism, the City has a variety of options and the City <br />can either enforce it criminally or civilly. A misdemeanor would be punishable by a $1,000 fine or up to <br />90 days in jail. Typically there is just a fine for first-time offenders. If it is a civil offense and the City <br />prevails, the person would need to follow the judge’s order or there will be a contempt proceeding. <br /> <br />Mattick stated his experience with rental ordinances is that cities will usually go the criminal route since it <br />can be issued very promptly and most landlords, generally speaking, do not want a criminal conviction on <br />their record. A criminal action is also less expensive to bring. <br /> <br />Walsh stated in his view it should be a petty misdemeanor rather than a misdemeanor since misdemeanors <br />carry greater ramifications for someone later on. <br /> <br />Mattick noted a petty misdemeanor is not technically considered a crime and would not show up on a <br />background check. <br /> <br />Printup asked what would happen if someone is renting for 30 days and the renters do not leave after that <br />time. <br /> <br />Barnhart stated the property owner would need to evict the renters. The draft ordinance defines a short- <br />term rental as anything less than 30 days, which would require a license. <br /> <br />Walsh stated the positive is more from a response issue if there are problems and that Staff or the police <br />will be able to contact the owner. Walsh stated in his view the draft ordinance would not impact anybody <br />that the City is currently aware of other than requiring them to obtain a license and provide some contact <br />information.