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Five referendum questions on the Portland Nov. 3 ballot, the result of a People First Portland citizens initiative, aim to increase affordable housing, make development more attuned to climate change and elevate working and living situations for the city's residents. All five are strongly opposed by a variety of business, government and nonprofit organizations. Mainebiz is taking a look this week at the questions. Today's article focuses on Question E, which looks to put more restrictions on short term rentals, as well as A (city minimum wage hike) and B (facial recognition limits). Wednesday's article was about Question C, the "Green New Deal," and Thursday's focused on Quesion D, rent control.
Airbnb released results of a survey this week that said Maine ranks No. 5 as a destination for people planning 2021 post-pandemic travel. And it's no secret the short-term rental industry has flourished in the state — Maine Airbnb hosts raked in $100 million in 2019 from some 534,000 guests, according to a January report from the company.
But in the state's largest city, the short-term rental industry is seen by some as one of the factors contributing to a serious housing crisis. Question E on the city's Nov. 3 ballot looks to put more restrictions on short-term rental hosting in the city, whether it's through Airbnb or other means.
Proponents say too many potential apartments in the city are being used for short-term rentals instead of being freed up for full-time residents.
Opponents, though, say the industry gives tourists, a major factor in the city's economy, more options and also provides income for city property owners that allows them to live in Portland.
The referendum, in general, proposes:
The city ordinance, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2018, requires all short-term rentals to be registered, with penalties for operating an unregistered rental unit and a $1,000 fine for providing false information on the registration form. The city limits units that are not owner-occupied to 400, and has 805 registered units altogether on the mainland. There are no limits on island rentals, where 113 units are registered.
Mayor Kate Snyder and seven of the city's nine councilors issued a news release earlier this week opposing all five of the People First Portland questions, saying they will undo progress the city has worked hard to achieve over the past few years, including in-depth discussion of, and changes to, short term rental policy. Councilors signing the letter were Nick Mavodones, Jill Duson, Belinda Ray, Spencer Thibodeau, Tae Chong, Justin Costa and Kim Cook.
If approved, any changes the council wants for the next five years can only be made by a ballot vote of the city's residents.
While the city of Portland has worked on regulating short-term rentals in the past couple of years, it's not enough, said Karen Snyder (no relation to the mayor), speaking for People First Portland. Question E tweaks language already in place to make the ordinance work better.
People First Portland says that the ordinance would add an estimated 400 long-term rental units in the city. "When housing is treated as a commodity, short term rental properties, like those listed on Airbnb and VRBO, take away our long term housing," People First Portland says on its website. "Returning those units to Portland residents helps us house more people."
The group, which formed from the Southern Maine Democratic Socialists of America political party, has the support of a variety of labor unions and the Maine State Building & Construction Trades Council, as well as advocacy groups the Maine People’s Housing Coalition, Black P.O.W.E.R, Southern Maine Workers’ Center and the Portland Maine Green Party.
Karen Snyder said there are an estimated 800 unregistered short-term rentals in the city on top of the 805 registered ones. "And lord knows how many are unidentified."
The enforcement language in the ballot question is taken straight from South Portland's ordinance, where the clampdown on short-term rentals is much more effective, she said. "We're not proposing anything brand new," Snyder said, adding that South Portland's ordinance has been effective.
But Willy Ritch, of the Portland Homeowners and Tenants Association, said, "The vast majority of short term rental hosts are Portland homeowners who are just trying to be able to afford the mortgage, property taxes and maintenance on an old house and this referendum would make it harder for them to be able to afford to live in Portland."
Question E is opposed by groups ranging from the Maine Real Estate and Development Association, the Greater Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, business owners and developers, many coming under the umbrella of the group Building a Better Portland, which was formed a few months ago to oppose Questions C, D and E.
Ritch, a short-term rental owner, told Mainebiz, "The City Council put regulations for short-term rentals in place and then tightened them up less than two years ago."
He said that Question E "goes way too far," including the yearly per-unit fee. "Even if you just want to rent out a single bedroom a few times a year." He said it would ban most short term rentals and the fines are too high.
The PHTA held a media call last week, highlighting how allowing the rentals helps Portland property owners.
Mona Qaddoumi, one of the short-term rental owners on the call, said she and her husband have a toddler and another child due in December. Short term rentals are a way to save for their kids’ college education.
“We both work full time jobs but we know how expensive higher education is going to be for our children," Qaddoumi said. "If these restrictions end up limiting us to not be able to do it anymore, it would really affect our long term financial plans for our family.”
Question A proposes that the city's minimum wage increase to $15 an hour by 2024, with steps of $13 in 2022 and $14 in 2023, with a wage of $22.50 during government-declared states of emergency. (Maine has been under one since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.)
The measure would also set the tip credit to half the increased wage and moves the effective date of annual cost-of-living increases to the minimum wage from July 1 to Jan. 1 to make it consistent with state law.
The current wage of $12 an hour "is simply not enough to afford rent, food and health care," People First Portland says on its website. "The minimum-wage worker is not the stereotype that you’ve heard: most of us are adults between 25 and 54; more than half are women; 28% have children; we span industries such as manufacturing, health care, and construction; and on average we provide 52% of our family’s total income.
"Raising the minimum wage not only helps us workers — when we have extra money to spend, local economies also get a boost," the website says.
Opponents say the increased wage is beyond the ability of local businesses to pay.
“Minimum wage is an important issue to continually address," said Mayor Kate Snyder. "However, a Portland-only mandated jump to $15/per hour and the requirement to pay time and a half (up to $22.50) during any declared emergency would likely have devastating impacts on both small businesses and employees in Portland."
The wage would drive businesses out of Portland, said Curtis Picard, president and CEO of the Retail Association of Maine. The RAM and a variety of businesses formed the group We Can't Do 22, which highlights the fact that employers could eventually have to pay more than $22 an hour.
"A lot of businesses are very concerned," Picard said, in an Oct. 7 Eggs & Issues webinar sponsored by the Greater Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Question B addresses facial recognition technology, something the city council voted to ban in August. Facial recognition is said by many to unfairly targets people of color and is opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union as well as other civil rights organizations.
Portland joined the growing number of cities that have banned it, approving a measure in August. The mayor and councilors, in their letter this week, said the referendum, if passed, will undo work the city did to come up with its ordinance, which went into effect last month.
The American Civil Liberties Union supports the referendum, which differs from the city ordinance in that it allows those feel they were targeted by the technology to take action against the city and also bans its use as evidence in court, which councilors removed from the original proposal from Councilor Pious Ali.
“We are maintaining democratic control over a technology that is unreliable, racially-biased and a threat to democracy itself,” Ali said in an statement released by the city after 9-0 unanimous vote to adopt the technology.
The referendum calls for:
An Act To Restrict Short Term Rentals in Portland
An Act to Restrict Short Term Rentals (STRs) in Portland will restrict all mainland STRs to only those that are owner-occupied. It increases the annual fee for all STRs to $1,000 for mainland and $400 for island rentals. The initiative also increases penalties for and strengthens enforcement of violations, requires the logging of complaints against STRs, and allows the city to revoke STR licenses for repeated violations.
1. That Chapter 6, Sections 6–150.1, 6–151, 6–152, 6–153, 6–154, 6–156, 6–157 and 6–158 of the Portland City Code are hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 6–150.1. Definitions.
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Island Short Term Rental shall mean a short term rental located on one of the following islands in the City of Portland: Peaks Island, Great Diamond Island, Cushing Island, Little Diamond Island, House Island, and/or Cliff Island. For the purposes of this ordinance, any short term rental located on any of these islands shall be considered an Island Short Term Rental, and not an Owner-Occupied Short Term Rental.
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Owner-Occupied shall mean a rental unit owned and occupied by the registrant as all or part of the registrant’s his or her primary residence. Accessory dwelling units as defined in Chapter 14 of this Code, are not considered owner-occupied units for purposes of short term rental registration and regulation.
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Primary Residence shall have the same meaning as “Permanent residence” as defined in the Maine Resident Homestead Property Tax Exemption, 36 M.R.S. § 681 et seq.
Registrant shall mean the owner of a rental unit seeking to register a rental unit.
Sec. 6–151. Registration required.
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© Additional Information Required for Short Term Rentals. A short term rental shall not be considered registered unless and until the registrant has submitted a complete application together with all information required by this article, paid the fee required by Sec. 6–152, and a registration number has been issued.
In addition to all of the information required in Section 6–151 subsection (b) above, a Short Term Rental registrant must provide at a minimum the following information and any other information requested by the City’s Permitting and Inspections Department or their designee:
1. A short term rental application;
2. Whether the rental unit is owner-occupied or is an island short term rental
Sec. 6–152. Registration Fees.
© Short Term Rental Registration Fee
1. For any Island Short Term Rental, the registrant shall pay a fee of four hundred dollars ($400) to the city each year at the time of registration or renewal. Subject to the limitations in Sec. 6–153, below, the registrant may register more than one Island Short Term Rental, but for each additional Island Short Term Rental, the registrant must pay an additional fee of four hundred dollars ($400).
2. For any Owner-Occupied Mainland Short Term Rental, the registrant shall pay a fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000) to the city each year at the time of registration or renewal. Subject to the limitations in Sec. 6–153, below, the registrant may register more than one Owner-Occupied Mainland Short Term Rental within their primary residence, including but not limited to additional bedrooms and separate spaces, but for each additional Owner-Occupied Mainland Short Term Rental, the registrant must pay an additional fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000).
Sec. 6–153. Limitations on Short Term Rental Units.
(a) Occupancy Limit. Overnight short term rental guest occupancy in each rental unit will be limited to two (2) guests per bedroom plus no more than two (2) additional guests.
(b) Any mainland rental unit in an owner-occupied multi-unit, where the unit is not the primary residence of the owner, shall not be considered as owner-occupied for the purposes of this ordinance, nor shall such unit be eligible for short term rental.
© Limitations on number of Short Term Rentals an Individual or Entity May Register. No individual or entity may register more than five (5) short term rental units in the City, including owner-occupied, and island short term rental units, in any one (1) calendar year. For purposes of this section, short term rental units registered by an entity in which the registrant has an ownership interest shall be counted towards this limit.
(d) No individual or entity may register a short term rental unless it is owner-occupied or located on an Island.
Subject to the limitations contained in this section, owners may register up to five (5) owner-occupied units (bedrooms, separate spaces, etc.) within their primary residence, provided that the number of rental units does not exceed the number of bedrooms.
Sec. 6–154. Allocation of Short Term Rentals.
Subject to the limitations in section 6–153, current registrations of short term rentals may be renewed each year upon application and payment of the registration fee, so long as the renewal is complete by January 1 of that year.
(b) Failure to renew by January 1 shall result in the forfeiture of the right to renew the registration, and any subsequent application shall be treated as a new application for registration.
© No registration under this Article shall be transferrable or assignable.
Sec. 6–156. Short Term Rental Violations and Penalties.
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 6–1, 6–155, or 6–157, short term rentals operating in violation of this article shall also be subject to fines set forth below. For the purposes of this section, each day of operating a short term rental in violation of this article shall constitute a separate violation.
(a) For the violation of operating a short term rental without a valid registration, the violator shall be penalized with a fine of $1,000 per day for the first offense and an additional fine of $1,500 per day for each additional offense, to be recovered upon complaint to Maine District or Superior Court in Portland, for use of the City.
(b) For any other violation of this Article pertaining to a short term rental, notwithstanding an otherwise valid short term rental registration, the violator shall be penalized with a fine of $1,000 per day for each such violation, to be recovered upon complaint to Maine District or Superior Court in Portland, for use of the City.
Any such fines may be in addition to any suspension or revocation imposed in accordance with the provisions of section 6–157 of this Article. In any court action, the City may seek injunctive relief in addition to penalties. The City shall be entitled to recover its costs of enforcement, including its reasonable attorney’s fees.
Sec. 6–157. Enforcement.
(a) The building authority as defined in section 6–1 or his or her designee is authorized to institute or cause to be instituted by and through the office of the corporation counsel, in the name of the city, any and all actions, legal or equitable, that may be appropriate or necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of this article.
(b) No certificate of occupancy shall be issued for property that is subject to the registration requirements of this article, but is not registered in accordance with this article.
© The Permitting and Inspections Department shall decline to grant registration or renewal to any dwelling unit upon failure of the registrant to meet all of the requirements of this chapter.
(d) Complaints.
1. Any member of the public, including persons and organizations, may file complaints regarding any short term rentals operating in violation of this Article with the Permitting and Inspections Department. Public complaints, or copies thereof, regarding any such violation received by any City Department shall immediately be transmitted to and received as filed properly by the Permitting and Inspections Department.
2. The Permitting and Inspections Department shall establish and maintain a log of all complaints received under this subsection for each short-term rental, and shall annually, on or before July 1, publish and present to the City Council a report containing the entire log of complaints from the previous 12 months.
3. The Permitting and Inspections Department shall investigate all complaints as appropriate, and request voluntary correction by the owner and/or registrant responsible for the cause of any substantiated complaint.
4. If the owner and/or registrant fails to remedy the cause for any substantiated complaint within seven days after such a request, the Permitting and Inspections Department shall pursue appropriate enforcement action under this section, including referral to the building authority for enforcement under subsection (a) above.
5. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to alter, apply to, or restrict the activities, policies, or procedures of the Portland Police Department, nor to prohibit or restrict any otherwise appropriate response by the Portland Police Department or any of its Officers, provided that copies of all complaints received by the Portland Police Department regarding any short term rentals operating in violation of this Article shall be transmitted to the Permitting and Inspections Department as provided in paragraph 1, above.
(e) Any registration under this article may be revoked or suspended for violation of any of the provisions of this Chapter. If a violation is found to exist by the Permitting and Inspections Department, in addition to the suspension or revocation of the then-current registration, the Permitting and Inspections Department may also prohibit the Owner not only from registering that unit under this Article, but also from registering any other dwelling unit under this Article, for 12 months following the current registration expiration date.
(f) Any short term rental at a property that is designated by the City as a disorderly house and fails to remedy the disorderly house as required by section 6–202, shall have its registration revoked and be ineligible for registration for a period of twelve (12) months. Any registration after revocation shall be considered a new registration and not a renewal. Upon the second designation of the short term rental property as a disorderly house, the City shall prohibit the registered owner from operating the property as a short term rental or post the property against occupancy pursuant to section 6–201.
(g) Fines shall be attributed to Property Management firms found operating short term rental units in violation of this article. These fines shall be in addition to fines levied against owners of property.
(h) Violations of the provisions of this article shall be grounds to deny an application or renewal application for a short term rental registration.
Sec. 6–158. Revenue Allocation.
An Act to Increase the Minimum Wage in Portland will increase the minimum wage in Portland to $15 an hour over three years. It increases the minimum that tipped employees must be paid by their employer to $7.50 an hour. It moves the effective date of annual cost-of-living increases to the minimum wage from July 1 to Jan 1 to maintain consistency with state law. It also requires a higher minimum wage for work performed during declared states of emergency.
1. That Chapter 33, Section 33.7 of the Portland City Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 33.7. Minimum Wage.
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b. Minimum Wage rate:
(i) Beginning on January 1, 2022, the regular Minimum Wage for all Employees, including, but not limited to, Service Employees, shall be raised to $13.00 per hour;
(ii) Beginning on January 1, 2023, the regular Minimum Wage for all Employees, including, but not limited to, Service Employees, shall be raised to $14.00 per hour; and
(iii) Beginning on January 1, 2024, the regular Minimum Wage for all Employees, including, but not limited to, Service Employees, shall be raised to $15.00 per hour; and
(iv) On January 1, 2025 and each January 1st thereafter, the minimum hourly wage then in effect must be increased by the increase, if any, in the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living must be measured by the percentage increase, if any, as of August of the previous year over the level as of August of the year preceding that year in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, CPI-U, for the Northeast Region, or its successor index, as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor agency, with the amount of the minimum wage increase rounded to the nearest multiple of 5¢. If the state minimum wage established by 26 M.R.S. § 664 is increased in excess of the minimum wage in effect under this ordinance, the minimum wage under this ordinance is increased to the same amount, effective on the same date as the increase in the state minimum wage, and must be increased in accordance with this ordinance thereafter.
…
c. Tip Credit:
(i) An Employer may consider tips as part of the wages of a Service Employee toward satisfaction of the Minimum Wage established by this ordinance, in accordance with 26 M.R.S. §664(2) and until such time as the tip credit is eliminated under state law. Such a tip credit shall be no greater than half the Minimum Wage rate established by this ordinance
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(g) Effect of Emergency Proclamation. For work performed during a declared emergency, the effective Minimum Wage rate established by this ordinance shall be calculated as 1.5 times the regular minimum wage rate under subsection (b) above. A declared emergency under this ordinance shall include the period of time during which:
(i) A proclamation issued pursuant to Chapter 2, Sec. 2–406, of this code declares an emergency to exist, if such emergency proclamation is geographically applicable to the Employee’s workplace; or
(ii) A proclamation issued pursuant to 37-B M.R.S. § 742 declares an emergency to exist, if such emergency proclamation is geographically applicable to the Employee’s workplace.
A declared emergency under this ordinance shall not apply to work performed under a teleworking arrangement, as defined under 5. U.S.C. § 6501, allowing the Employee to work from home.
An Act To Ban Facial Surveillance by Public Officials in Portland
An Act to Ban Facial Surveillance by Public Officials in Portland will ban the city of Portland and its departments and officials from using or authorizing the use of any facial surveillance software on any groups or members of the public, and provides a right to members of the public to sue if facial surveillance data is illegally gathered and/or used.
1. That the Code of Ordinances, City of Portland, Maine, is hereby amended by adding a section to be numbered Chapter 17, Article XI, which said article reads as follows:
ARTICLE XI. FACIAL SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY
Sec. 17–129. Purpose.
The purpose of this Article is to protect the privacy and civil liberties of the residents of Portland.
Sec. 17–130. Definitions.
For the purposes of this Article, the following terms have the following meanings:
Face surveillance means an automated or semi-automated process that assists in identifying or verifying an individual, or captures information about them, based on the physical characteristics of their face.
Face surveillance system means any computer software or application that performs face surveillance.
City of Portland means any department, agency, bureau, and/or subordinate division of the City of Portland.
City of Portland official means any person or entity acting on behalf of the City of Portland, including any officer, employee, agent, contractor, subcontractor, or vendor.
Sec. 17–131. Facial Surveillance Technology Prohibition.
It shall be unlawful for the City of Portland or any City of Portland official to:
(a) Obtain, retain, store, possess, access, use, or collect:
1. any face surveillance system; or
2. any data or information derived from a face surveillance system or other use of face surveillance;
(b) Enter into a contract or other agreement with any third party for the purpose of obtaining, retaining, storing, possessing, accessing, using, or collecting, by or on behalf of the City of Portland or any City of Portland official:
1. any face surveillance system; or
2. any data or information derived from a face surveillance system or other use of face surveillance; or
© Issue any permit or enter into a contract or other agreement that authorizes any third party to obtain, retain, store, possess, access, use, or collect:
1. any face surveillance system; or
2. any data or information derived from a face surveillance system or other use of face surveillance.
Sec. 17–132. Enforcement.
(a) Suppression. No data or information that is obtained, retained, stored, possessed, accessed, used, collected, or derived from any face surveillance system or other use of face surveillance in violation of this article, and no evidence derived therefrom, may be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, grand jury, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative committee, or other authority. Any data or information that is obtained, retained, stored, possessed, accessed, used, collected, or derived in violation of this article shall be considered unlawfully obtained, and shall be deleted upon discovery.
(b) Private cause of action.
1. Any violation of this article constitutes an injury and any person so injured may institute proceedings in the Maine Superior Court in a civil action seeking injunctive relief, declaratory relief, damages, and attorney’s fees. Any action instituted under this paragraph shall be brought against the City of Portland. If applicable, such action may also be brought against any third party with whom the City of Portland contracted or entered into an agreement, or to whom the city of Portland issued a permit, in violation of subsections (b) or © of Section 17–131 of this article.
2. Any person who has instituted proceedings under the previous paragraph and is found to have been subjected to face surveillance in violation of this article, or about whom data or information is found to have been obtained, retained, stored, possessed, accessed, used, or collected in violation of this article, shall be entitled to recover actual damages not less than the greater of:
a. $100 for each violation of this article; or
b. $1,000.
3. Any prevailing plaintiff in any action brought under this subsection shall be entitled to the award of costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
© Violation of this ordinance by any official or employee of the city of Portland is grounds for suspension or termination. The violator may also be required to participate in retraining.
Sec. 17–132. Exceptions and Safe Harbors
Nothing in this article shall be construed to:
(a) limit any individual’s rights under state or federal law;
(b) prohibit the use of an automated or semiautomated process for the purpose of redacting a recording for release or disclosure to protect the privacy of a subject depicted in the recording;
© prohibit the use of facial recognition or similar biometric technique on privately owned consumer devices for personal use or security, or for commercial use or security; or
(d) prohibit the use of facial recognition or similar biometric technique in managing secure entry or access to restricted buildings, rooms, or other secure spaces, devices, or things, provided that:
1. any data or information derived from such a system is only obtained, retained, stored, possessed, accessed, used, or collected with the knowledge and consent of any person authorized for such entry or access; and
2. no data or information derived from such a system about any persons not authorized for such entry or access may be obtained, retained, stored, possessed, accessed, used, or collected.
The Giving Guide helps nonprofits have the opportunity to showcase and differentiate their organizations so that businesses better understand how they can contribute to a nonprofit’s mission and work.
Learn MoreWork for ME is a workforce development tool to help Maine’s employers target Maine’s emerging workforce. Work for ME highlights each industry, its impact on Maine’s economy, the jobs available to entry-level workers, the training and education needed to get a career started.
Learn MoreFew people are adequately prepared for all the tasks involved in planning and providing care for aging family members. SeniorSmart provides an essential road map for navigating the process. This resource guide explores the myriad of care options and offers essential information on topics ranging from self-care to legal and financial preparedness.
Learn moreThe Giving Guide helps nonprofits have the opportunity to showcase and differentiate their organizations so that businesses better understand how they can contribute to a nonprofit’s mission and work.
Work for ME is a workforce development tool to help Maine’s employers target Maine’s emerging workforce. Work for ME highlights each industry, its impact on Maine’s economy, the jobs available to entry-level workers, the training and education needed to get a career started.
Few people are adequately prepared for all the tasks involved in planning and providing care for aging family members. SeniorSmart provides an essential road map for navigating the process. This resource guide explores the myriad of care options and offers essential information on topics ranging from self-care to legal and financial preparedness.
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