Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Eastham are in person, typically with an online attendance option. Click on the meeting you are interested in on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, Jan. 4
- Nauset Regional School District Budget Subcommittee, 8 a.m., Nauset administration building
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 5 p.m.
- Nauset Schools Regional Agreement Subcommittee, 5:30 p.m., Zoom
- Conservation Commission work session, 6 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 8
- Behavioral Health Task Force, 3:15 p.m.
- Nauset Schools Policy Subcommittee, 4 p.m., Nauset administration building
- Select Board, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 9
- Conservation Commission onsite, 8:15 a.m.
- Capital Projects Committee, 3 p.m.
- Zoning Task Force, 4 p.m.
- Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 10
- Community Preservation Act Committee, 5 p.m.
- Nauset High School Building Committee, 5:30 p.m., Zoom
- Human Services Advisory Committee, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 11
- Board of Assessors, 11 a.m.
Conversation Starter
Short-Term Rental Limits
The select board asked the task force on zoning and regulation at its Dec. 18 meeting to add a per-person limit on short-term rental certificates to its agenda. The limit would cap the number of rental certificates owners of properties in Eastham can hold but would not impose a town-wide limit on the number of short-term rental properties that could be certified generally.
Select board member Jamie Demetri cited the study on Provincetown’s short-term rental properties performed by the UMass Donahue Institute, which concluded that capping the number of short-term rental properties one person could own is a potential way to “encourage homeowners to have a connection to the community.”
Demetri proposed a cap of two properties per person and suggested that a legacy clause be added to allow property owners who already have more than two short-term rental properties to maintain those designations. This rule would be based on legislation that Provincetown voted for at its last town meeting, according to zoning and regulation task force member Mary Nee.
Nee stressed that the UMass study found that a short-term rental cap would not change the economics of affordable housing, but it could discourage people from buying up large numbers of single-family homes in the future.
Board chair Arthur Autorino, speaking in opposition to the motion, described a cap on short-term rental certificates as “a solution in search of a problem” and argued that Eastham doesn’t yet have an issue with people having too many short-term rental properties.
“I don’t want to wait until we do,” Demetri responded.
The motion passed 4 to 1, with Autorino casting the no vote. The task force will present its housing article to town meeting this spring. —William von Herff
