ROCKPORT — A draft of an ordinance that would regulate short-term rentals in Rockport will be presented at a Select Board meeting on Nov. 9. After a lengthy discussion on the topic at their Oct. 27 meeting, the board agreed that the meeting would be held in-person at the Rockport Opera House rather than remotely via Zoom.

Select Board Chair Debra Hall and board member Denise Kennedy-Munger have been working to create a draft of an ordinance that could be adopted by the town to govern how short-term rental properties can operate within Rockport; to date such an ordinance has not been enacted.

At the Oct. 27 meeting, Hall said that the board had been anticipating presenting the document to the board and to the public at an in-person meeting on Nov. 9, but in light of a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, suggested it may be necessary for the meeting to be held remotely. Hall said that she and Kennedy-Munger were drafting the ordinance rather than the town’s Ordinance Review Committee (ORC).”

“The reason the ORC is not drafting it at this point is that... here there is so much detail that it is fraught with policy and the ORC’s role is not to make policy; it’s for the Select Board to suggest that policy,” said Hall. “Again, this first draft is truly a draft because we’re trying to ferret out the policy that the Select Board wants to support and send out to committees and out to the public.”

Board member Jeff Hamilton said that since the ordinance is an initial draft, it could make more sense that the document is first reviewed at a workshop among the board to make sure that it highlights the vision the board had for it before immediately sending it out for public comment, should the draft need changes.

Hall agreed, adding that, “ having everybody weigh in heavily on the first draft could be very unproductive.”

“I don’t think the optics look very good, in my opinion, when we talk about having a public meeting with the public’s input and them being there, and then here we are sort of changing things in the same breath,” said board member Mark Kelley.

Hall proposed that the Select Board hold a public workshop later in the month, after the board members discuss the initial draft amongst themselves on Nov. 9.

She said that having the public involved through Livestream meetings is a response to the pandemic and is the same approach adopted by other towns in the area.

Kelley suggested that the board and the public be given at least two or three weeks to “digest” the draft ordinance rather than have it appear on the town website two or three days before the Nov. 9 meeting.

Michelle Hannan said she agreed with Kelley.

“What’s the logic of providing something to you in writing without the opportunity to present it,” said Hall, adding that she and Kennedy-Munger planned to make a presentation of the draft to the board, at which time they would ask answer questions the other board members may have.

“I know that this is on the hearts and minds of a lot of people and I want to make sure that they feel as though they have a voice in this and that something hasn’t been drafted on their behalf or without their input,” said Hannan, who stressed the importance of the public’s involvement and said that she knew of Rockport citizens who were already planning to attend the Nov. 9 meeting.

“I get it,” said Hall. “People have had lots on input, and this draft is going to reflect a lot of input from those people. If anything, I think it might go a direction that some of the board members don’t like because it does reflect so much of the input that we heard from people.”

“It’s hard because we haven’t seen [the ordinance] and we haven’t been involved in the drafting of it,” said Hannan.

“You can’t draft by committee,” said Hall, referring to the decision that she and Kennedy-Munger created the initial draft of the ordinance. She said that the public discussion of a short term rental ordinance had taken place for at least a year already. 

Hamilton suggested that the board meet remotely via Zoom on Nov. 9, but that the public would be able to comment or join the discussion through the program’s “invite” feature.

Town Manager Bill Post said that could be challenging to conduct the Zoom meeting with so many participants, but that he would be willing to try and monitor the meeting and keep a queue of members of the public who wanted to comment in a virtual waiting room.

“The two of you have already crafted something that all you need is a third vote for,” said Kelley, pointing out that Hall and Kennedy-Munger, who wrote the rental ordinance draft, will only need one other member of the five-person Select Board to vote in favor of the ordinance in order for it to pass.

“I know it could appear as if ‘the fix is in,’ but it’s much more a case of ‘let’s just put down the options,’ and we don’t know where everyone on the board is,” said Kennedy-Munger.

Kelley said that despite the input that Hall and Kennedy-Munger had already received from the public as they drafted the ordinance, he was aware of at least 25 citizens who were eager to share their concerns heard by the pair, and the board as a whole.

The draft ordinance is expected to appear on the town website later this week.

The Rockport Select Board will meet Monday, Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m. On Nov. 2 both Post and Hall said that the intention is still for the meeting to take place in person, and a press release outlining the format of the meeting is expected from Post later in the week.

Downtown hotel update:

At the Oct. 27 Select Board meeting Town Manager Bill Post said that on Sept. 23 Code Enforcement Officer Scott Bickford issued a permit for the filling and excavation work currently taking place at 20 Central St. in downtown Rockport, the site of a hotel proposed by Stuart Smith and Tyler Smith through 20 Central LLC.

“I need to be clear that town is not allowing construction of a hotel to start on the site at this time as no building permit has been applied for at this site, and this would obviously be a requirement for them to start construction. It is obvious that this is the site of the proposed and planning board-approved hotel. When an application is filed for a building permit at that site, the code officer will apply the current Land Use Ordinance and state laws in deciding whether to issue a building permit or not,” said Post.

“There is a pending appeal of that hotel project which will be heard by the Zoning Board of Appeals on Nov. 17.”

The Nov. 17 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. via Livestream.