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11/12/2024
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Reps. Carson, Cortvriend want to hear from you about short-term rental issues
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STATE HOUSE – The special legislative commission studying the economic and social effects of the short-term rental industry is now accepting testimony from the public, and Representatives Lauren H. Carson and Terri Cortvriend are asking Aquidneck Islanders to make their voices heard.
The Special Legislative Commission to Review and Provide Recommendations for Policies that Deal with Numerous Economic and Social Short-Term Rentals Issues has scheduled a meeting Thursday, Nov. 21, specifically to solicit public testimony. That meeting will take place at 2 p.m. in the House Lounge on the second floor of the State House.
But you do not need to travel to Providence nor wait until then to testify. Written testimony is just as effective, and Representative Carson, who chairs the commission, and Representative Cortvriend, who is a member, are encouraging constituents to send written testimony to them for submission to the commission.
Anyone wishing to submit written testimony is asked to email it, preferably in PDF format, directly to either Representative Carson at rep-carson@rilegislature.gov or Representative Cortvriend at rep-cortvriend@rilegislature.gov. The legislators ask that anyone sending testimony please email it by Nov. 20 to ensure it can be included in the meeting’s record.
“The rise of the short-term rental industry has had such a profound effect on Aquidneck Island over the course of the last decade or so. We really want people to share their experiences and opinions, whatever they may be, with our commission so we can collect a body of testimony that captures how people in the community feel about the growth of this sector in their neighborhood. If people have any suggestions about the direction they would like the state to go in terms of regulating them, this is the time to share them. We genuinely want to hear from people, because gauging public concern is a critical element of our commission’s work,” said Representative Carson (D-Dist. 75, Newport).
Said Representative Cortvriend (D-Dist. 72, Portsmouth, Middletown), “While we are asking people from other parts of the state to submit their testimony to our commission’s clerk, we would like to encourage our neighbors here on Aquidneck Island to send their testimony directly to us because we want to make it clear how important we feel it is that our districts’ voices are heard at the State House as this work proceeds. We want everyone to feel comfortable contacting us about this, and we will ensure that our constituents’ opinions on short-term rental issues are amplified. We will, of course, read every message ourselves, and we will personally submit them on behalf of our neighbors so our
community’s concerns are registered.”
The public is welcome to attend the meeting, and it will also be televised on Capitol Television on Cox Communications channel 61, i3 Broadband (formerly Full Channel) channel 15 and Verizon channel 34. It will also be live streamed at capitoltvri.cablecast.tv/.
The commission, created as a result of legislation (2023-H 6449) sponsored last year by Representative Carson, is reviewing all current and existing Rhode Island statutes on short-term rentals, Department of Business Regulation registrations process and enforcement, municipal vs. state regulation, taxation, the impact on year-round and local housing markets and neighborhoods, health and safety concerns and best practices in other states and communities.
It is working to establish a working definition of “short-term rentals;” engage the public and community stakeholders including property owners, industry representatives, police and fire chiefs and zoning and planning officials for input; develop an understanding of the nature, extent and scope of short-term rental activity; and identify specific benefits, problems or issues associated with short-term rentals and how they vary from neighborhood to neighborhood and municipality to municipality.
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
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