Land Court Considers Local Ban On Airbnb Rentals in Lynnfield
Over Memorial Day in 2016, a contemporary mansion in Lynnfield was the scene of a raucous Airbnb house party where neighbors described bikini clad college women prancing around to hip-hop music reverberating through the bucolic neighborhood. At 3AM, however, the party turned into a crime scene when 33-year-old Keivan Heath was shot several times and died.
The owner of the 6 bedroom, 5,545 square foot European style residence, Alexander Styller, rented the home to a group of old college roommates at over $2,000/night through the controversial short term rental platform, Airbnb. In the aftermath of the murder, the Lynnfield building inspector and Zoning Board of Appeals issued an order prohibiting the owner from using the premises for short term rentals. The case went up to the Land Court where Judge Keith Long just issued his ruling, upholding the ZBA’s interpretation of the zoning by-law prohibiting short term rentals in a residential zoning district. The decision is one of the first to consider the legality of local prohibitions against short term rentals in a residential zoning district.
Judge Long Rules In Favor of Town
Judge Long ruled that local municipalities have the power under zoning law to regulate (or prohibit) short term rental platforms like Airbnb in a residential single family zoning district, and that the local zoning board has the authority to consider it a non-“grandfathered” use. Demonstrating a solid grasp of the burgeoning technology that is Airbnb, Judge Long ruled that AirBnB-type rental arrangements are not such grandfathered uses. Rather, he reasoned “they are ever-changing technologies that produce materially-different uses as the technology changes, and AirBnB and the other platforms have reserved the right, at their sole discretion, at any time, for any reason, to change that technology and the types of rentals they make available.” The judge further noted that “zoning was created, and is justified, by the degree of certainty it provides to its various designated districts. When that certainty no longer exists, the protections of zoning no longer exist.” Nor could Airbnb be considered an allowed “accessory use” to the home like an in-law suite. “Homes are expected to be used as residences, not for profit,” Judge Long reasoned. “Continuous rentals of a primary residence are contrary to the fundamental use of the home, as it leaves its primary residents without a place to stay. For those same reasons, Mr. Styller’s rentals have become, “in effect, a conversion of the principal use of the premises to one not permitted.”
Judge Long also had some interesting comments about the very nature of Airbnb and its effect on the surrounding neighborhood —
“From the neighbors’ perspective, however, it is all downside. The owner may not be there to experience the external effects of frequent short-term rentals a constantly-changing cast of strangers in the building or neighborhood, unknown cars on the street, and the traffic and noise from parties (a not-infrequent purpose of AirBnB-type rentals, as evidenced by the incident that led to this case). But the neighbors are there to experience those effects, and may not be pleased. These effects are likely worse in non-owner occupied properties where the owner never lives there but instead rents it out in a continuous series of short term arrangements, calculating that the rental income will be higher than that received from longer-term tenants. This has a community-wide effect as well as effects on the immediate neighbors. Short-term AirBnB-style rentals may be good for tourists, but they decrease the number of properties available for long-term rental by residents and thus, if the practice is widespread, drive up the overall cost of rentals.”
The effect of this ruling will be that towns and cities will be on stronger legal footing if they seek to regulate or even prohibit Airbnb and other short term rental platforms under their local zoning codes. Also, the state legislature has taken up the debate, with a comprehensive bill passed this summer, only to be rejected by Gov. Baker. The Airbnb issue will be receiving plenty of legal attention in the months and years to come. This case will be appealable to the Appeals Court or SJC, so check back for more updates.
Link: Styller v. Lynnfield Board of Appeals
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