Page 6 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 City Council wants Airbnb enforcement officer By Adam Swift L ast year, the City Council passed an ordinance regulating short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs. That ordinance limits short-term rentals to no more than six renters on one property and requires that the owners of the properties live onsite. But despite the new ordinance aimed at improving the quality of life for Revere residents, there has been limited enforcement, according to Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna. Monday night, McKenna introduced a motion asking Mayor Brian Arrigo to hire an enforcement officer to oversee short-term rental issues. “In the last two months, I’ve had two major complaints,” said McKenna. “It’s not fair that long-term Revere residents have to live next door to these Airbnbs, especially if it’s an absentee landlord.” McKenna pointed to a recent incident on Summer Street, where a large group of people in their 20s partied at a shortterm rental. “It wasn’t safe and no one was wearing masks,” McKenna said. “The police had to be called, and then an ambulance had to be called to take a kid away.” According to McKenna, the landlord of the property was nonplussed. “The landlord said that until the city shuts me down, I’m going to rent this place – that’s the attitude,” she said. She said the absentee landlords can be fined time after time before any action to shut them down is taken. “I just want to hold the absentee landlords accountable and for the city to step up,” said McKenna. While the city has an offi ce to handle short-term rentals, McKenna said it isn’t staffed. “We have an ordinance that has been on the books since September and nothing is being JOANNE MCKENNA Ward 1 Councillor done so far,” she said. “We have over 250 Airbnbs and most of them are in Beachmont … we really need to start the process. Let’s monitor this and collect the taxes, too.” Ward 3 Councillor Arthur Guinasso reiterated that the new ordinance requires short-term rentals to be owner-occupied. “If that’s not being enforced, what good is it for us to be creating legislation that’s beneficial to our community if we don’t enforce it?” Guinasso asked. “We need to hire people to enforce our ordinances or we look like a bunch of buff oons.” Ward 4 Councillor Patrick Keefe said ordinances concerning issues such as short-term rentals and parking are the kind of quality of life issues that directly impact Revere residents. “I’m banking on the mayor and his staff to come up with a solution,” Keefe said. RMV encouraging customers to renew expired inspection stickers T he state Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) is ramping up customer communication efforts to encourage anyone driving one of more than 584,000 registered vehicles with an expired Massachusetts inspection sticker on their vehicle’s front windshield to plan to get their annual inspection and update their sticker as soon as possible. All vehicles registered in Massa~FLASHBACK~ 32nd in a series of chusetts must pass a yearly vehicle emissions and safety inspection – also known as the Massachusetts Vehicle Check Program – which is essential to the safety of the Commonwealth’s environment and roadways. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, some extensions were granted to annual inspection stickers expiring between March and May of 2020; however, those extensions have since expired and no further extensions are planned. There are 1,800 local inspection stations, many of whom are small businesses, across Massachusetts that are open for business and conducting inspections in accordance with state public health guidelines and safeRMV | SEE Page 8 Straight from the Shell (left) and City Councillor John Jordan were instrumental in raising donations for the Revere shows Casoli passing on a donation from one of the many donors to this worthy cause. Tw wo Re (left) an e ev veererre Higgh sspoporrts egegeend rtsts leeege left) a d Cind City ends nds, ((left) and City Councillor John Jordan were ityty Coououncnccillooor Joohn Jooord rda an we e ere ds Mickec ey Cas orda ck cke key Casoli erer aso so LOVE ON THE BEACH: Nothing says “I Love You” like a declaration of love in clam shells pictured Tuesday on Revere Beach. Thousands of clams have washed ashore over the past two weeks due to the storms that hit the region, allowing thousands of seagulls to feast on their natural diet – instead of Kelly’s french fries! (Courtesy photo)
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