a report from Councillor Craig Kelley, Chair of the Public Safety Committee, for a public hearing held on November 20, 2018 to review the current status of the Short-Term Rentals (STRs) registration and enforcement efforts in Cambridge, include any legal proceedings, the exploration of possible new legal proceedings against illegal STR operators or platforms

Lopez, Donna ATTACHMENTA From: David Levitt <[email removed]> Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2018 7:51 PM To: Lopez, Donna Short Term Rentals Subject: "Short term rentals" is definitely an issue where the public interest is furthered by laws and regulations. Failure to regulate the STR "industry" will negatively affect quality of life for current and future long term residents and residential owners. Prices for both rentals and properties will be artificially increased making it more difficult for all but semi-hotel investors to rent or buy homes in Cambridge. Hotels need to meet minimal standards for public service. STR units should be subject to similar standards. Only homeowners with a single spare room should be eligible to rent on a short term basis. NO entire home should be allowed to convert to an STR building. David Levitt 14 Notre Dame Ave Cambridge, MA 02140

Lopez, Donna ATTACHMENTB From: Louise Briggs < [email removed]> Sent: Friday, November 16, 2018 10:24 AM To: Lopez, Donna Subject: Craig Kelley - STR's Dear Craig, I cannot attend Tuesday's STR meeting. I'm a resident of Cambridge and also own a short term rental property in Truro, MA. As a multi-generational property the Truro house has been a summer rental property for at least 50 years. Perhaps some of these ideas are new to you. Many homeowner insurance policies limit the number of weeks that can be rented short term. In Truro I am restricted to 8 weeks. The USAA policy for my house in Cambridge doesn't allow any rental shorter than 3 months. •Perhaps the city can require that STR's file proof of insurance for STR's. •Perhaps insurers could be involved in reducing the number of short term rentals. In Truro we pay $200 per year to register for any rentals of 3 months or less. The state recently approved an excise tax of 5.7% for short term rentals. A city hotel tax could help to fund affordable housing •Truro will soon be charging an additional 4% hotel tax- totaling 9.7% • Provincetown's additional hotel tax is 6% - totaling 11.7% Sincerely, Louise Briggs 56 Dana Street 02138 [phone removed]

Lopez, Donna From: Louise Briggs <[email removed]> Sent: Friday, November 16, 2018 10:56 AM To: Lopez, Donna Subject: Craig Kelley/Provincetown study details huge market incentive to rent short-term Dear Craig, This article in the Provincetown Banner supports the need for reducing STR's. http://provincetown.wickedlocal.com/news/20181115/provincetown-study-details-huge-market-incentive-to-rent- short-term Louise Briggs 56 Dana Street 02138

WICKED LOCAL® PROVINCETOWN Provincetown study details huge market incentive to rent short-term By Edward Miller Posted Nov 15, 2018 at 6:00 AM PROVINCETOWN - A draft of a new study of housing needs by the UMass Dartmouth Public Policy Center predicts that the demographic and economic trends that have contributed to Provincetown's housing crisis will most likely get worse. And it singles out the short-term rental market as one of the main culprits. The study, titled "Understanding the Housing Needs and Challenges Facing Provincetown, Massachusetts," found that year-round population and household incomes have dropped while the median house price has skyrocketed. "From 2000 to 2016, household incomes in Provincetown declined by 10.7 percent while median sales price increased by 53.1 percent," the report stated. "Affordably purchasing a Provincetown home at the median price requires an annual income of $120,040, which is $77,812 more than the median household income in town." Provincetown's year-round population decreased by 16.8 percent, or 522 residents, from 1990 to 2016. The number of households in town will continue to decline, the report predicts, and "the majority of the population will consist of older residents, with 55 percent of all households headed by a person at least 65 years of age by 2025." The report estimates the nightly rental rate for an Airbnb unit in Provincetown to be $254. "If a property owner can fill their unit every night of the 20-week season from May through September," it states, "they could potentially net more than $34,000 for a unit that could otherwise rent for $1,300 per month or $15,600 per year." Even if the property owner fills the unit for just half the season on a nightly basis, the net income would be more than from a year- round rental.

"As online rental marketplaces like Airbnb have become ubiquitous for tourists, seasonal units are increasingly being used as short-term rentals," the authors write. "Property owners are responding to a strong market incentive." As the population ages and more part-time residents decide to retire here, the report predicts, "an increase in the demand for year-round workers supported by these retirees can be expected to further tighten the market and increase the price of community housing for the workers in healthcare, retail, and food service who will be needed to meet growing demand for services. Exacerbating the challenge will be the need to replace the local workers who both live and work in the area, at least some of whom will elect to 'age in place.'" The number of affordable housing units created in town has been meager compared with new market-rate housing. "With the exception of 2011 when 42 units of affordable housing were permitted, market-rate housing was the dominant type of housing constructed from 2000 to 2017," the report states. "Since 2000, 101 affordable units have been constructed, even as 416 market rate units were added during the same period (through 2017)." The authors report that there are currently 66 parcels of vacant, developable residential land, most of them small and abutting other developed properties. "These conditions mean that, if the vacant parcels were used to create the dense housing needed to alleviate the pressure on the housing stock, they are likely to encounter the same NIMBY issues other large-scale developments have," the report states.

Lopez, Donna ATTACHMENTC From: Joan Pickett <[email removed]> Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2018 8:50 PM To: Lopez, Donna Ce: Kelley, Craig STR Subject: Craig, Thank you for reaching out on this important topic. Mid-Cambridge has a transient population to begin with as many people come here to attend college and graduate school and then leave shortly there after. The presence of short term rentals exacerbates the feeling of a 'temporary' neighborhood. From a neighborhood perspective, I am of the opinion that people who live full-time in the neighborhood actually care about the character, safety, and participate in the general community. And, the more full time residents, the stronger the community/neighborhood ties. From a safety perspective, I am concerned when I see people I don't know coming out from behind my neighbors house. It takes me a moment to realize that they are perhaps STRs. But I can't be sure. STR creates for me a sense of not being as secure. Maybe if STRs sent out emails every time property is rented that unease would end? I am sure they screen renters as best they can but you never know. Perhaps if the regulations required owners to be present safety would be less of a concern. Another option would be a STR directory by neighborhood as it would make neighbors aware that when we see unfamiliar people at a particular property not to be concerned. I know my above comments may not be totally on point based on your meeting agenda, but | wanted to take the opportunity to share my perspective. Have a nice Thanksgiving. Joan Pickett 59 Ellery St.