NEWRY – Area homeowners who have converted rooms in their houses without going through the Planning Board for a change of use permit can expect phone calls soon from town officials.
At Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, selectmen were bewildered to learn that one homeowner who applied for and received a building permit for a four-bedroom home, was allegedly advertising the dwelling on the Internet as an eight-bedroom home with five baths that sleeps 26 people. Two units were available for rent on a nightly or weekly basis.
That constitutes a hotel, said Newry and Bethel code enforcement officer Rich St. John.
When asked what the difference was between a duplex and a hotel in terms of code enforcement regulations, St. John said people know where the exits are in a duplex because they live there. But that’s not the case with a hotel that can house people unfamiliar with the building’s exits on a nightly basis.
St. John advised selectmen and Administrative Assistant Silvia Gray to investigate state lodging laws to ensure that residents were abiding by the law.
“The state fire marshal is already looking at this area as a result of deficiencies” in permitting, he added.
tkarkos@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.