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February 22, 2018

South Portland curbs short-term rentals in unoccupied homes

Photo / Airbnb The Airbnb website lists this South Portland home with a headline "Large home close to everything!" and describes it "as ideal for providing an excellent accommodation for a family or groups that want to live in comfort for their stay in the Portland area. There are 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, and the home is outfitted with every convenience necessary." A January 2018 review stated the "house is spacious, clean, and easily accessible. The location has good parking, a grocery store nearby and it's just a quick Uber/Lyft ride to downtown. I would highly recommend it for large groups."

South Portland’s city council approved an ordinance banning short-term rentals of unoccupied homes in residential neighborhoods.

Maine Public reported that the ordinance adopted in a 6-1 vote Tuesday night will allow people in the city’s commercially zoned neighborhoods to continue to rent out un-hosted homes.

“Over the last couple years there's been a proliferation of purchases of homes from people who never intended to live there, who bought them strictly as investments to run them as little hotels,” District 1 City Councilor Claude Morgan told Maine Public, adding that those un-hosted rentals had made South Portland’s tight housing market even tighter.

City Councilor Adrian Dowling, who opposed the ordinance, said he preferred a less extreme measure that would allow un-hosted rentals by people who do live in their houses but go away for part of the year allowed in the residential zones.

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