A property with an AirBnB listing on Intervale Avenue in Burlington seen in Sept. 2023. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger This story by Mark Rondeau was first published in the Bennington Banner on Sept. 16, 2026. Shaftsbury is in the process of developing a short-term rental bylaw, while a djacent North Bennington recently finalized the administrative process for enforcing its short-term rental ordinance. According to Vermont law, short-term rental “means a furnished home house, condominium, or other dwelling room or self-contained dwelling unit rented to the transient, traveling, or vacationing public for a period of fewer than 30 consecutive days and for more than 14 days per calendar year.” This does not include annual leases. Statistics from the Vermont Housing Finance Agency show that available short-term rentals in the state grew from 6,753 in January 2018 to 11,194 in December 2025. In Shaftsbury, the Planning Commission held a public hearing Sept. 9 on several proposed bylaws changes. After reviewing them again at its Sept. 23 meeting, it will forward them to the selectBoard. The board is required by the state to have two formal hearings on them before it votes. Major changes sought by the selectboard could return any of the proposed bylaws back to the commission. The bylaw proposal drawing the most comment since Planning Commission Chair Tim Scoggins spoke about them with the selectboard at a meeting in July is the one concerning short-term rentals. Under the proposal, the owner must submit a fee and a copy of the short-term rental safety, health and financial obligations checklist, “a checklist that essentially someone who’s doing a short-term rental has to go through and make sure they’re doing all the right things,” Scoggins said in July. The state considers renting to be a residential activity and the rental to be a public building and requires it to comply with state building and fire codes, according to the Vermont Short Term Rental Alliance. The only public comment at the Planning Commission public hearing on Sept. 9 dealt with the short-term rental bylaw. “Currently, short-term rentals are treated as a home occupation, and this is really no longer adequate given the changes that we’re making and the way the industry has grown, and we want to make sure that we’re not trying to limit anybody’s ability to earn money from a short-term rental,” Scoggins said. “Really, mostly what we’re doing is make making sure that landlords are aware of the current state regulations governing short-term rentals, which are fairly numerous, and collect information on what’s going on in Shaftsbury in terms of short-term rentals, just so we know where they are and how to react if there is an issue.” The permit would come from the town zoning administrator, he said. “It would just be a simple come in, fill it out, turn it in kind of thing. We would ask that the owners, when they provide the permit, that they provide a copy of the state’s short-term rental safety, health and financial obligations checklist,” he said. “That just pretty much tells short-term rental owners what they have to do, and it’s a checklist that they should be going through anyway when they’re proposing to do this.” The original bylaw proposal included a $150 a year fee due on March 1 for a Shaftsbury resident doing business with a short-term rental. “An owner or manager must be nearby and on call when the short-term rental is active to deal with any issues. The short-term rental owner is responsible for the renter’s compliance with our noise bylaws, and they must provide off-road parking for guests,” Scoggins said. “And currently, in the bylaws, short-term rentals are referenced only in rural districts. We’re proposing that they can happen in any districts.” Short-term rental owner Art Whitman asked why the checklist had to be submitted every year if nothing changes. He also questioned the $150 fee. Kathy Whitman and Rachel Blumenthal agreed with his objections. Zoning Administrator Carlyn Mickle, who has since become the town administrator, explained how she came up with that number: $150 is “half of one average night of rental here in Shaftsbury,” she said. “Basically, I looked up all the short-term rentals, made a list with all of their identifying information, and came up with an average of what one night costs, and that’s half of one night on average here in town.” After the public hearing, Scoggins suggested taking the fee amount out of the bylaw itself and leaving it to the selectboard to decide the amount. Planning Commission members discussed reducing the fee recommendation from $150 to $50, about the amount needed to cover administrative costs. This would be reduced to $25 if the applicant agreed to be listed in the town’s business directory. This fee is in line with that for applications to conduct occupations in the home. According to housing data, Shaftsbury had 15 active short-term rental listings in December 2025. North Bennington The North Bennington Village Trustees recently voted to adopt an administrative policy for enforcing its short-term rental ordinance. It includes a $100 annual fee. The trustees adopted the ordinance in November 2025 but did not put into place a policy to enact it until this month. “So, this has been around for a while,” said Trustee Chair Mary Rogers. “If we have an ordinance, it’s only a good idea unless you have some way to follow up and make sure that people are doing what they’re supposed to be doing.” The ordinance assigns the lead task of administration to the village clerk. The clerk can ask for assistance from the trustees, which then will appoint one of its members to help, she said. “So first and foremost, I would want to know what our clerk, Lori (Elwell) has felt about this policy and procedure,” Rogers said. “And was this something that you would request help for?” “I think it’s fine. I don’t foresee it being so busy that I would need to request help,” Elwell said. “But if I do, I will ask one of you.” Rogers described the administrative tasks involved. They would include accepting the short-term registration form. “First of all, do the research, look on the VRBO, the Airbnb, whatever those sites are. Find out who is advertising things in North Bennington. Send the registration form, and perhaps a copy of the policy or whatever we need to that individual, and then request the fee,” Rogers said. “And it says that we do this by July 1 of every year.” The North Bennington ordinance defines a short-term rental “as a furnished house or other dwelling room or self-contained dwelling unit rented to the transient, traveling, or vacationing public for a period of fewer than 30 consecutive days and for more than 14 days per calendar year. This includes both entire units and single rooms if the rental is for a stay of less than 30 consecutive days.” This does not include month-to-month leases. Officials said that at this time they are aware of just two short-term rentals in the village. Vermont statistics In Bennington County, for December 2025, housing data lists the number of active short-term rentals in local towns: 26 for Pownal, 65 for Arlington, 69 for Dorset, 84 for Bennington, 92 for Peru, 201 for Winhall and 228 for Manchester. According to the Vermont Short Term Rental Alliance, short-term rentals, or STRs, “represent ~3% of Vermont’s housing stock and ~65% of Vermont’s visitor capacity. Over $1 billion in annual economic activity is generated by Vermont’s STRs. More than 500,000 visitors stay at a Vermont STR each year, spending an average of $1,500 per visit at local businesses.” Regarding short-term rental ownership in Vermont, the alliance states that “80% of owners operate 1 or 2 STR listings; 50% of owners are full-time Vermont residents; 55% of owners are over the age of 55 and are in or nearing retirement; 63% of owners are women.” In addition, “55% of Airbnb hosts say hosting has helped them afford their homes.” Read the story on VTDigger here: Towns move forward on regulating short-term rentals. ...read more read less