Council amends Quality of Life Ordinance
Condos to follow different signage rules than single family homes.
Town Council voted 4-1 on Wednesday, Nov. 18 to remove language in the new Quality of Life Ordinance that requires nightly rental condominiums to post exterior signage, and to work with the Lodging Association to address concerns.
“I’ll be completely honest, I’m a little bit unsure of what we’re moving for,” said Councilman Colin Fernie, as Council deliberated over the confusing language of two possible motions. The first motion, proposed by Councilwoman Jo Bacon, would have required immediate exterior signage for single family homes and delayed requirements for condominiums until July 1, 2016. The second motion, proposed by Councilman John Wentworth, dropped the requirement for exterior signage on condominiums and delayed requirements for single family homes until July. Both motions agreed to collaborate with the Lodging Association. Councilwoman Bacon was the one dissenting vote on the second motion.
The item was added to Wednesday’s agenda in response to concerns about the ordinance, which was adopted by Town Council on Sept. 16.
The discussion focused on the issues of required exterior signage listing rental information, interior signage such as glowing “Exit” signs, inspection requirements and occupancy limits.
John Morris, Chairman of the Lodging Association, said that the new rules resulted in “putting a lot of pressure on property managers who are already stressed.” He emphasized that this was an “owner-based issue,” which was echoed by the Council.
Morris insisted that there were some “big bugs” in the ordinance, namely occupancy rules and signage, but that the Lodging Association was willing to work with Council to address them.
Condo owner Mike Scannell was specifically frustrated with new occupancy rules. “I have a real issue with not being able to use my loft anymore … the way you’ve written the ordinance, I can’t even have my grandkids up there.
“I did buy [my condo] with the intention of being able to market it to a certain clientele and all my financial decisions were based on that, and if that is suddenly taken away from me…I will have to reevaluate my position and I don’t want to do that.”
“TOT is our lifeblood, so I don’t want to send a message that we’re trying to make it difficult,” said Mayor Michael Raimondo, addressing concerns that, with the new rules, owners’ incomes would decrease, therefore affecting Transient Occupancy Tax revenue.
As Town Manager Dan Holler explained, the loft issue is due to stricter Fire Department requirements—most of the town’s lofts are deemed unsafe for sleeping because they do not have two means of egress. Scannell mentioned that there are “hundreds” of these lofts in Mammoth.
However, Holler said, “We really can’t turn a blind eye to having people stay in something that we could deem unsafe. It’s a difficult position to be in, frankly.”
Planning and Economic Development Chair Mickey Brown said she felt the public and the Lodging Association could have become engaged in the process sooner.
“Back in June when we held our first of three public hearings on this issue, I was really dismayed that nobody from the Lodging Association or the TOT Association had come to our meeting,” she said. “I really wish people would show up to those initial public hearings. It would make our job a lot easier.”
Councilman Shields Richardson said that this was simply part of the process. “We knew the first phase of this document wasn’t going to be the end-all. There were going to be some tweaks, and it is a living document.”
Town Council will now be moving forward with adjusting the Quality of Life Ordinance, with the help of the Lodging Association and the public.
“The condo rental business in this town is very nuanced and very complicated; it’s very difficult to write a blanket policy that would work in all scenarios,” said Fernie. “I think the long and the short of it is that sometimes a one-size-fits-all policy doesn’t work very well.”
