In 2019 the residents of Rockport voted against the arbitrary and capricious attempt by the Select Board to regulate short-term rentals. The margin of victory for those voting against the arbitrary and capricious potential regulations was not a close race by any means. Some might say it was a landslide victory against allowing the town to exercise regulations based on what this writer viewed as the personal agendas of a few Select Board members. 

At the time of their failed first attempt, their argument revolved around supposed violations of various town ordinances. However based upin a thorough review of both police and fire department logs, there were no charges or complaints against short-term rentals present at all.

Given the landslide victory of 407 against regulating to 194 in favor on this issue, one might consider that the town residents had clearly spoken and the matter could finally be considered closed. Guess again. In what this writer could only describe as a another surreptitiously veiled threat against STR owners has now blossomed into a full blown frontal attack requiring registration, permitting and safety inspections on ALL RENTALS in Rockport. 

The latest printed media provided by the Town attempts to ratify this endeavor under the guise of "ensuring the efficacy of rental septic systems."

Now for some minutae, there are 1,904 1-3 unit housing units in Rockport. Approximately 644 individual residences and businesses are currently tied into the town's sewer network, while broader system metrics or combined regional capacity figures approach over 1,300 equivalent or connected users. 

The town continues to add connections through infrastructure projects, such as recent and ongoing line extensions along Route 1 and Route 90. Thus it would appear that Articles 2 and 3 are targeting approximately 600 residences in the rural and outlying areas of the town that do not have access to the municipal systems.

By and large, rental units — both STRs and longer term — are located on or near the Route 1 corridor and the Town proper, not in the rural and outlying non-sewer serviced areas. Taking that into account, it would appear once again that the Select Board is attempting to pass a regulation based on not only a residential largely non-rental minority, but also a grasping at straws effort to augment town coffers whilst imposing ever insidious requirements on our rights as private property owners.

I urge you to VOTE NO ON ARTICLES 2 AND 3 in the upcoming election. Thank you.

Felicia Giordano lives in Rockport