Portland city councilors unanimously approved new regulations for short-term rentals on Monday evening.
Previously, the number of non-owner-occupied rental units in Portland was capped at 400. Under the new rules, the city will lower the cap to about 285 units, or about 1.5 percent of Portland’s long-term housing stock.
The new rules are intended to prevent investors from buying up homes that could otherwise be used as long-term rental housing, said councillor Kate Sykes.
“Hopefully we will create a lot more housing, and when that happens we will be able to offer more short-term rentals,” she said.
However, many owners said they use short-term rentals to supplement their income and rent units to tourists who otherwise could not afford to stay in a Portland hotel.
And some short-term rental owners, including Portland resident Adam Simon, said the fees he collects from tourists and guests allow him to keep rents relatively low for long-term tenants.
“In order to keep my long-term rental prices fair and reasonable, I need that extra income that allows me to squeeze a little more out of some apartments in each building,” he said.
Existing operators will keep their licenses under the new rules, but the city will not issue new permits until the number of non-owner-occupied housing units in Portland falls below the new cap.
City councilors also rejected two changes to the city’s minimum wage on Monday evening.
One measure would have increased the city’s minimum wage from $15 to $20 an hour over the next four years. Another proposal would have eliminated the tip credit for restaurant workers, which Portland residents rejected two years ago.
Neither measure will be discussed in the vote in November.
Several restaurant workers spoke out against the tip credit proposal, arguing that it should be up to individual businesses to decide how best to pay their employees.
But Portland residents will vote in November on another measure that would limit the application of a 50 percent increase in the city’s minimum wage for non-contract employees during an emergency. The referendum would limit the application of the ordinance to circumstances in which the City Council declares the emergency, not the state.
This article appears as part of a media partnership with Maine Public.
