To the editor:
There seems to be a frenzy going on now to restrict short-term rentals, as evidenced by the West Stockbridge Planning Board’s recommendation to limit short-term rentals to a maximum of 80 days annually.
The reality is that restricting short-term rental days will not increase affordable housing but will simply make it financially impossible to maintain an Airbnb profitably and, consequently, eliminate lodging options for visitors.
The idea that short-term rentals eliminate homes that could be affordable housing is a misguided perception. It will not result in more affordable housing, but it will negatively impact local businesses as well as property values, and here is why.
Airbnb homes in the Berkshires are not affordable housing. The average Airbnb is over $600,000 and frequently over $1 million. Reducing the amount of rental days will force many owners to sell, and in all probability, the buyers of those houses will be second-home owners. There is plenty of real estate data to support this.
The second homes are occupied somewhere about 100 to 150 days a year, while my daughter’s Airbnb is occupied between 200 and 250.
People renting Airbnbs frequent all local businesses more frequently than the second-home owners and even more frequently than some permanent residents, and they also introduce people all over the country to the Berkshires, which inevitably results in more demand and higher property values.
The West Stockbridge Planning Board specifically said that the primary reason to restrict Airbnbs is to maintain the character of neighborhoods.
Most Airbnb homes have been renovated and improved. You cannot rent shabby Airbnbs, and to be successful, they must also be maintained. The concern about noise can easily be controlled by requiring a permit, which will increase revenue for the town and also provide the town with the leverage of retracting that permit if there are too many complaints about noise, parking, or anything else.
I would ask the Planning Board what neighborhoods are they maintaining the character of?
The first house you see when you come into town has been under renovation for two years with a broken-down fence and garbage and building materials in the yard. There are hoarder houses (some of my best friends are hoarders), but they negatively impact the character of a neighborhood and property.
In addition, people who bought homes as an investment in the Berkshires to rent as Airbnbs should be grandfathered in. They bought with the understanding that Airbnb rentals were acceptable in West Stockbridge.
The affordable-housing crisis in the Berkshires can only be remedied… by building affordable housing.
Forcing Airbnbs to sell by interfering with their ability to be profitable will result in more second homes with reduced occupancy, impacting local businesses, and significantly reducing the number of visitors who can enjoy our area and negatively impacting diversity.
Steve Schulz
West Stockbridge
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