After a new town law is adopted, it sometimes takes a period of time to smooth out the “kinks.” This appears especially true for the Lloyd Planning Board as they began reviewing their first wave of applications under the Short Term Rental [STR] Law, which was adopted and added to the town code in October 2022. Often these are known as Bed & Breakfast rentals.

The new STR law states that, “the purpose of such regulations and requirements are to assure that the properties being rented meet certain minimum safety and regulatory requirements, which are proportional to those imposed on similar uses, such as beds and breakfasts, inns, motels and hotels; thereby protecting the property owners, the occupants of such housing and the residents of the Town of Lloyd.”

The STR law does not require that a home be owner occupied full time, but there is a provision stating that the owner must live in the home for a minimum of 180 days a year. There is no mention in the law, however, of who would be monitoring this or how it would be done. In fact, the new STR law allows the actual owner to have a representative watch over the home, who may live up to an hour away.

The STR process requires that the owner of the home must submit an application to the town and then seek a Special Use permit from the Planning Board.

At last week’s Planning Board meeting, there were five applications for them to review. Some individuals met all of the requirements, but others clearly had issues: with neighbors complaining about noise emanating off the property; a dispute over access via a right of way driveway; an engineering firm that has to review the size of the septic system to see if it can handle a large number of individuals at a given time, an ancient Central Asian version of the modern tent, known as a Yurt, was being rented on the premises; and one home that was rented out for a commercial purpose, which the new law specifically prohibits.

Public Hearings were opened for all five of the STR applicants seeking a Special Use Permit. They were all held open until the next Planning Board meeting that is scheduled for Thursday, February 23 at 7 p.m. at the Lloyd Town Hall, 12 Church Street, Highland.