April 6, 2024 | By Lisa Scagliotti

Waterbury Select Board members share a lighthearted moment at the start of their meeting on April 1. They cheered the passing of the town charter legislation that Gov. Phil Scott signed on March 29. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

The work of a new volunteer committee studying housing issues in Waterbury got its first policy recommendation before the Waterbury Select Board this week.

The board spent time discussing and hearing from some community members about a draft ordinance to create a registry of both short-term and long-term rental properties in town. (Scroll to the bottom of this post for the draft.) The measure is in its early stages but comes from the work of the town’s Housing Task Force that was created in 2023. The group meets on the third Thursday of each month.

The proposal grew from a report about short-term rentals that the task force shared with the Select Board in January. (Scroll down for slides from that presentation at the bottom of this post.)

Municipal Manager Tom Leitz explained that the proposed ordinance come from the ongoing work related to the tight housing market. This would be a first step toward determining the existing rental market in Waterbury. “We don’t know how many rentals are even in Waterbury,” he said. “This ordinance in general is about a registry. It is not about regulation.”

New software that the town is purchasing for the Planning and Zoning department should be useful in managing such a registry online, Leitz noted.

Some elements in the draft ordinance include requiring a responsible local individual be designated for every rental property. Another point for the Select Board to discuss, Leitz said, is a recommendation from Fire Chief Gary Dillon that every rental property and commercial property in town have a lock box for emergency building access. Given that such a step would involve purchasing and installing the boxes, Leitz suggested that could be something phased in later.
Another part of the draft addresses security deposits. The board began a discussion of the recent trend among landlords to require two months’ rent for security deposits rather than just the last month’s rent in advance. Leitz noted that Burlington and Berlin have ordinances addressing security deposits. Select Board member Kane Sweeney suggested the topic be addressed in the ordinance discussion.

Noting that other Vermont communities are also looking at short-term rentals with a desire to potentially regulate that practice, Select Board members stressed that the main goal of a registry ordinance would be to build a database of information. Understanding the breakdown of short- and long-term rentals will help inform policy and development decisions, they said.

“We have to have a handle on what’s there before we do anything,” board member Mike Bard said.

Several audience members offered comments as landlords, including multiple former Select Board chairs such as John Grenier. He noted that he is an owner of the downtown building where Stowe Street Cafe and Bridgeside Books are located as well as a long-term and a short-term rental. He said the short-term rental helps generate income that supports the other uses in the building. He asked that the board consider the impacts of future ordinances on local owners of rental properties versus large out-of-state owners of multiple rental properties.

Local business owner and another former Select Board Chair Mark Frier addressed the board in support of the ordinance. “You’ve got to have the data,” said Frier, who has been a frequent advocate for more affordable housing. He said getting a handle on the rental market’s capacity and vacancies is critical for future planning. “I think this is a start,” he said. “It’s important to have the data to use to your advantage to make Waterbury a more affordable place to live.”

Landlord Amy Anderson questioned the need for an ordinance while fellow landlord Mitar Petrovic cautioned about regulating security deposit amounts. Increases in costs for contractors to do repairs when tenants move out of units coupled with state regulations pose financial risks for landlords, Petrovic pointed out. “The moment we take someone in, all that risk is on us,” he said.

Former town manager and current town Health Officer Bill Shepeluk suggested that the board might explore a municipal role in managing security deposits where tenants could borrow funds from the town and repay over time. “Maybe the town could take that risk rather than the landlords,” he said.

After renting in Waterbury for the past five years, tenant Mal Culbertson spoke to support the effort to understand local rental dynamics. “I’m 29. The prospects of me buying a house in Waterbury are pretty bleak,” Culbertson said. “I’m sympathetic to landlords getting bad tenants. But there’s a need for stable, good housing … it’s an untenable situation for so many young people in this state.”

Clapp stressed that this was the board’s first look at the ordinance draft and that he hopes it will generate more interest and comments from the public—landlords and tenants alike— in the coming weeks.

An April Fool’s teaser + real news to celebrate

Happening on April 1, Monday’s meeting began with a bit of levity for April Fool’s Day. Before the meeting was called to order, board members wearing little paper party hats and holding noisemakers stood for an announcement from Chair Roger Clapp. Also the leader of Waterbury Winterfest’s organizing committee, Clapp said, “Due to an inordinately successful Waterbury Winterfest, there will be a grant that will completely offset any increase in education taxes this year.” The “news” brought laughter from fellow board members and those in the audience. Clapp emphasized that this was just some April Fool’s humor.

He then shared an actual announcement saying that there was indeed “something to celebrate” this week. “Thanks to efforts of the state legislature, our governor, and most particularly our town manager, Waterbury does have a new charter,” he said.

The bill creating a charter for Waterbury that will allow for the town to levy new local option sales taxes was passed by the legislature recently and signed by Gov. Phil Scott on March 29, Clapp said.

Later in the meeting, Leitz said that the state Tax Department would work with local businesses to prepare to start collecting the additional 1% tax on general sales, rooms and meals, and alcohol purchases starting July 1.

The municipal budget for 2024 did not anticipate the new taxes would be in place so soon, Leitz said. He estimated that a July start could bring in an additional $350,000 in revenue this year. Given that, he said he would likely bring a proposal to the Select Board in a few weeks for a gravel road project to be added for this year.

Other business

About an hour of Monday’s meeting was spent on upcoming appointments to the Harwood Unified Union School Board. Three of Waterbury’s four seats on the board are vacant and the Select Board was tasked with recommending appointees to the school board. Four individuals have applied, and the board interviewed each and agreed unanimously on recommending the school board appoint Elizabeth Brown, Corey Hackett and Dan Roscioli. Given that there are only three school board openings, Clapp encouraged Gwaltney to consider volunteering for another town board or committee. Read about the school board candidate interviews here.
During public comment, the board heard from leaders of the nonprofit Friends of Waterbury Reservoir who are seeking support on a measure to further regulations restricting the use of wake boats on water bodies in Vermont including the reservoir. The board said it would consider putting the topic on a future meeting agenda for more discussion.
Another portion of the meeting involved a hearing regarding a complaint about dogs at 55 North Main Street apartment building. The board heard testimony from resident Jonathan Hammer concerned about safety including a report of one incident of a dog biting a neighbor last fall; the individual was not seriously injured. The dog owners Tyler and Christina Hedding testified that they no longer own the dog involved in the bite incident. They also testified that their five dogs are up to date on their rabies vaccinations and town licenses. Other testimony included Property Manager Pauline Nelson and Shepeluk. The Select Board discussed the matter in a closed deliberative session at the end of the meeting. Leitz said afterward that the board did not take any action in the matter other than to warn the dog owners that they could face fines associated with any future violations of the town’s animal ordinance.
The Select Board approved a request made by Matt Dugan from the newly formed Natural Disaster Preparedness Committee for the group to pursue creating a volunteer response corps of community members interested in assisting in the event of a natural disaster such as the floods in 2023.

The Select Board also approved a request from Leitz to make the town assessor position full-time as the town moves to begin a multi-year property reassessment later this year. Leitz said Dan Sweet, who has worked as the town’s part-time assessor, is available for that role full-time. The job would be paid for from an appraisal reserve fund, Leitz said.

Event permits approved

The board’s agenda had a list of upcoming community events and gatherings in 2024 for which organizers have applied for entertainment permits. The Select Board reviewed and approved requests for:

Waterbury Area Trail Alliance’s Gravel Grinder bike race scheduled for Sunday, May 5. Starting and ending at Rusty Parker Memorial Park, the route includes sections of Waterbury, Stowe and Moretown.
Clyde Whittemore Little League Parade on the season’s opening day, Saturday, May 11.
Waterbury Rotary Club’s 42nd summer of Concerts in the Park. The Rotary plans a series of Thursday night concerts in conjunction with the Waterbury Farmers Market from June 6 to Aug. 22.
Circus Smirkus, set for multiple performances at Farr’s Field, Tuesday-Thursday, July 2-4.
The 100on100 foot race, scheduled for Saturday, August 10, passing through Waterbury from Stowe to Ludlow.
The Leaf Peeper Half Marathon and 5K planned for Sunday, Oct. 6, in downtown Waterbury and Duxbury.

Recordings of Waterbury Select Board meetings are made and posted online by ORCA Media.

Below is the draft rental registry ordinance marked with notes from Municipal Manager Tom Leitz to the Select Board.