Groton — A theme emerged Tuesday evening among Noank residents offering their views on what a short-term rental ordinance should look like: Keep things simple.

They object to certain provisions of a scrapped draft, particularly one limiting owners to 34 rentals per year. When Noank Fire District Zoning Commission member Nip Tanner tried to ascertain how many times Noank owners typically rented, he struggled to get a good answer, partially because of the variability and partially because of objection to the very concept of limiting rentals.

"There are a lot of rules here that just seem extraneous, and a little bit bureaucratic and invasive," said Sarah Drake, a New Jersey resident trying to hold on to a family home in Noank by renting.

The latest meeting of the commission marked a return to the drawing board. The process for addressing short-term rentals, such as Airbnb and Vrbo, essentially began with a January 2019 workshop to see if residents wanted regulations.

This stemmed from the legal opinion that uses not expressly allowed in the zoning regulations are prohibited, though one resident quipped Tuesday that regulations would have to be 20,000 pages long to incorporate all possible permitted uses.

Attorney John Casey wrote the proposed regulations, but when residents gathered for a public hearing on June 18, they were disappointed to have not been involved in the drafting process.

Many found the proposal too restrictive, taking a "yes in my backyard" approach, and multiple people stressed that they're only renting out their properties to help defray high taxes.

"We decided to withdraw the proposed ordinance, effectively starting from scratch," Commission Chairman Rick Smith explained to The Day after Tuesday's meeting.

He said the commission has three options going forward: draft new regulations, if members decide they have enough input; have another information-gathering meeting, if they decide they don't; or take a different approach than dealing with short-term rentals specifically, such as dealing with general noise complaints.

"This will go on for several meetings," he said. The next one is scheduled for Aug. 20.

One persistent concern on Tuesday was ensuring that corporations don't purchase houses solely to rent them out and turn a profit. Some cities around the globe have encountered this, though some feel it's not fair to compare Noank to larger locales like Paris or Quebec City or San Francisco.

Steve Pendery's suggestion was to mandate that the owner resides at the property, to some extent, but without the intent that they need to be on-site for a rental. Bruce Avery suggested that existing short-term rentals be grandfathered into regulations, but that beyond that, only a certain number of slots be available.

Andy Giblin said that having a waiting period, such as 12 or 18 months, between the purchase of a house and the ability to acquire a short-term rental permit would disincentivize commercial operators.

He also would like to see the commission have a process that is based not in pre-empting issues but addressing them — and potentially revoking permits — as they come up.

Jim Giblin feels it would be a mistake to create a new administrative system just to deal with a few bad actors.

Some residents were concerned about the possibility that regulations would require off-street parking for short-term rentals, considering they live in nonconforming homes and don't even have their own off-street parking.

Another issue that came up repeatedly on Tuesday was how to handle noisy renters. Some expressed that there is a difference between handling noise complaints for short-term renters and permanent residents, while others feel it's no different.

Victor Villagra did not think that somebody coming from the outside "can possibly have the same innate loyalty and care we exhibit in favor of our neighbors."

He also commented, "We have got to have some legal and regulatory tools to manage it, if it needs to be managed. If it doesn't need to be managed, God bless all the renters, and God bless all the owners." He added that it can't be a free-for-all.

Chairman Rick Smith sent a message to attendees the next day, saying he was remiss in "not thanking you for your patience and courtesy towards the Commission and for offering a number of useful insights, observations and suggestions. They will be very helpful as we explore solutions that best fit the interests of Noank residents and homeowners."

e.moser@theday.com