Page 12 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020 City proposes rules for short-term rentals By Barbara Taormina M ayor Brian Arrigo outlined some of the key points of a proposed short-term rental ordinance in a letter sent to the City Council this week. “The objective of this ordinance is to give residents a reasonable opportunity to rent property short term while having a limited impact on the stock of available rental housing,” wrote Arrigo. “It also seeks to ensure that shortterm rentals will not be a detriment to the character and livability of the surrounding residential neighborhood.” The proposed ordinance would allow short-term rentals in owner-occupied multifamily homes of up to four units and in single-family homes that are the primary residences of the short-term rental operators. Condos in a building where the operator has his or her primary address can also be off ered as short-term rentals. Short-term rentals are capped at 60 days; operators must register their unit with the city’s Short-term Rental Registry and pay an annual fee of $200. “A number of councillors worked on the ordinance, including Councillor Guinasso, Councillor McKenna and myself,” said City Council President Patrick Keefe. “There were also CRISIS | FROM PAGE 3 on June 29 and I want to thank Mayor Arrigo for his leadership in standing up to hate and taking action in reactivating the Human Rights Commission,” said Dimple Rana, Director of Healthy Community Initiatives lots of contributions from the rest of the council. I know this will have a lot of lengthy discussion and it’s going to a public hearing on July 27.” Councillors whose wards have been fl ooded with shortterm rentals were pleased to see a proposal on the table. “There’s been a lot of great work done by councillors to get us to this point,” said Arrigo, who took part in this week’s council meeting. “This is long overdue,” said Ward 6 Councillor Richard Serino. “I’m glad to see it’s coming together, and I look forward to diving into it and having more discussion.” Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna said the city would need to watch for people who advertised rentals without registering them with the city. She said there is software available to track advertisements, registrations and other types of data. “If we are going to take this seriously, we are going to need something like that,” said Keefe. Councillor-at-Large George Rotondo agreed that without proper software enforcing the ordinance would be a challenge. Rotondo also asked if any thought had been given to approaching major short-term rental agencies, such as Airbnb, Vacation Rentals by Owners, for the City of Revere. “The reactivation of the commission, together with today’s declaration of racism as a public health crisis, mark signifi cant milestones in our ongoing efforts to achieve racial equity in our city. Our work to address racial and health disparities Senior Citizen Work-Off aka VRBO, and Home Away, in the spirit of cooperation. “Have we thought of saying ‘We want you to come to Revere; we want to be a partner with you; here’s our ordinance?’” he asked. Keefe agreed that the city wants to work with the agencies rather than having rental companies work around the ordinance. A business partnership seems appropriate since short-term rentals could generate a significant stream of new revenue for the city. In addition to the annual $200 registration fee, there are inspection fees, excise taxes and community mitigation fees set by the council. And there is a proposed $300-a-day fi ne for anyone who violates the ordinance. Ward 3 Councillor Arthur Guinasso said he was thrilled to see Arrigo’s letter of support that addressed a lot of the concerns raised by councillors. “I can’t stress the urgency of getting this program in play, no matter what shortfalls it may have,” said Guinasso, who added that councillors can improve the ordinance as it moves forward. “We have to have something on the books because my neighborhood is a disgrace,” added Guinasso. “I don’t have a neighborhood anymore – I have all hotels. Everyone is renting rooms.” has been underway for years, with much more to be done. In all of these eff orts we will pursue a continuum of community engagement as we work together to eliminate the pervasive racial inequities that exist throughout our society and in our city.” Abatement Program FY 2021 M ayor Brian Arrigo is pleased to announce that the City of Revere will accept applications for the Senior Citizen Work-off Abatement Program beginning July 1. This program provides the opportunity for 50 seniors to work for a $750 property tax reduction and another 50 seniors to work for a $500 water bill credit. The program will off er qualifi ed seniors the opportunity to contribute 62.5 hours throughout various city departments for property tax abatements or 41.5 hours for water bill credits. However, currently the COVID-19 public health crisis leaves the scope of the work for this year’s program uncertain. “While we certainly hope that we will be able to implement a full semblance of our annual Work-off program, we will be guided strictly by the status of coronavirus in our community and will abide the informed advice of our public health offi cials,” said Mayor Arrigo. “Our residents’ health is our primary concern, and we will be extra cautious as we develop the details of this year’s program.” Nonetheless, Mayor Arrigo wants the program ready to go if public health concerns are addressed – “We will follow our usual application and selection procedures, and then react accordingly to whatever extent we can to actually implement the program.” In order to qualify, Revere residents must be at least 60 years of age and the assessed owner of the property, and the income limit has been raised to $77,408 for individual applicants and $94,580 for married applicants. Residents will be required to provide a copy of one of the following: birth certifi cate, driver’s license or passport. A lottery shall be conducted on August 21 at 11:00 a.m. (tentative date) to determine which applicants participate in the property tax or water abatement portion of the program. Applications will be available on revere.org/FY21-senior-workoff -program and in the Mayor’s Office when municipal buildings reopen. Applications can be dropped off or mailed to Revere City Hall. Additionally, applicants can send their completed applications electronically via email to revere_mayor@revere.org. Residents will be notifi ed by mail if they have been selected for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 program. Revere resident honored for achievements at Malden Catholic High School MALDEN – Michael Sekenski of Revere was recently honored by Malden Catholic High School for the following achievements: Valedictorian of the Class of 2020, National Honor Society President, Quiz Bowl Special Recognition Coordinator Award and SFX Scholar. IGNORANCE | FROM PAGE 8 War II, a confl ict that claimed nearly 75 million lives that included millions of civilians who lost their lives to genocide, massacres, and disease. A person who today paints a swastika as some sort of ill-conceived statement is not only hateful; that person is ignorant. • It is ignorant to bellow “white power” when our greatest power, our greatest strength, evolves from the united force of all our people working as one to elevate our discourse and foster our brotherhood and sisterhood toward mutual prosperity and societal security. A person who defi es the power of cultural harmony is not only hateful; that person is ignorant. • And it is an act of ignorance because the criminal who wielded the can of paint has no clue about the resolve and tight bonds that make the people of our city protective of each other. The act on Lantern Road has outraged our population, and their collective eyes and ears will eventually lead law enforcement to the sorry source of this atrocity. When Covid-19 made its unwelcome invasion into our neighborhoods, essential workers, fi rst responders, volunteers and compassionate people paid no attention to color and nationality and ethnic background as they joined forces to protect and help each other and suppress the peril. That is the Revere I am proud to lead. And that is the Revere that will prevail to expunge our community of the vile and obnoxious acts of ignorance that desecrate the City that we proudly call our hometown. We will never tolerate the ignorance that breeds racism, and we will commit our relentless energy to crush it.
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