Residents, officials say shootout at short-term rental underscores need for regs

A shootout at a Jamaica Plain short-term rental property on Saturday night that left a man dead put a fatal spotlight the need for regulation in the short-term housing market, neighbors and officials said.

“This highlights the need for these new regulations.” said Anne Stack on Sunday standing on Wyman Street.

Under the city’s short-term rental regulations that went into effect this year, properties like the one where the shooting happened will be illegal come Dec. 1 unless they receive a variance from local zoning codes that prohibit hotels from operating in residential neighborhoods.

The property is listed under the name Wyman Bed & Breakfast on more than a dozen short-term rental sites. Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley, who represents Jamaica Plain, described the property as a “boutique hotel.” It operates 12-15 rooms, he said.

It’s exactly the kind of property city councilors discussed when they passed legislation limiting the short-term rental market in the city.

O’Malley said the property owner is seeking a variance to turn his Wyman Street rental house into a licensed boutique hotel, something he opposes.

“I was opposed largely because of concerns from neighbors mostly around parking,” O’Malley said. “Until today safety wasn’t involved in my opposition.”

O’Malley said he didn’t want to “conflate” the shooting with new regulations but said safety for residents and short-term rental guests was a top priority, something  Mayor Martin Walsh agreed with.

“We are not looking to stop people from profiting, but we want to make sure all the behavior and activity happening is good,” Walsh said.

The goal of the crackdown on short-term rentals in Boston was to stop people from skirting existing zoning laws and operating de facto hotels in neighborhoods, a practice that housing advocates say has been a contributing factor in rising rents all across Boston.

The regulations bar people who own a property but do not live there from renting out so-called “investor units,” which was the rallying cry used by housing advocates to get the legislation passed.

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2meHaKQ