South Portland Votes To Constrict Airbnbs

If you were planning to book an Airbnb house in South Portland, you may need to revise your plans. After residents of Willard beach complained about some visitors disrupting the neighborhood, the South Portland City Council approved new laws regarding short-term rentals in the area.

According to WGME, two major laws will go in effect following the recent vote to regulate rentals.

1) Rentals in residential areas will no longer be allowed to go unhosted. In other words, if you rent a house on Airbnb in a neighborhood setting, the host will have to be on-site. More removed homes can be rented without the host present, but they can only be single-family homes.

2) Rentals that have the host on site in residential or non-residential areas can be single- or two-family homes, but have a restriction on how many guests are allowed.

Basically, any Airbnb guests in South Portland with neighbors need a babysitter now. I gotta say, I'm bummed about it - I always lean toward the whole house rentals when I book Airbnbs. Then again, I've never had to deal with neighborhood renters throwing ragers and disrupting my lifestyle. What do you think?