Council to Tackle Transient Housing

With over 300 AirBnB listings in Revere, the City Council is going to tackle the job of implementing regulations overseeing the trend of short terms rentals.

The issue of short-term rental housing has been building over the past few years and many cities and towns have implemented local regulations.

Boston is working on new rules covering short-term rentals, but is a few weeks away from adopting them. The Boston City Council has asked for more time to develop the technology to enforce new rules,

Last year, the Winthrop council approved a special permit process for transient housing. Under the ordinance, anyone who wants to rent out a room is required to have a permit. The main concerns in Winthrop were cooking privileges, fire code enforcement, health codes, bathrooms, parking and more.

At last week’s Revere City Council meeting, Ward 3 Councillor Arthur Guinasso brought the issue to the table, asking for an ordinance to be created by the mayor, the city solicitor and the building inspector.

“We are allowing another intrusion into our community,” he said, adding that residential parking in the city could end AirBnB.

Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna said the city should look into a 6 percent tax for AirBnB’s. She noted that the local hotel tax is seven percent.

Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky said he once ran into a man near the MBTA station who asked where the closest AirBnB was. It’s something that stuck with him.

Councillor Dan Rizzo added that the rooming houses in the city are also a concern.

“We have to look at the whole picture,” Rizzo said. “Every little bit impacts the city.”

Ward 5 Councillor John Powers said safety precautions like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, also should be considered.

The council sent Guinasso’s motion to the Legislative Affairs Subcommittee.

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