WELLS –– Wells residents will get a chance to sound off Tuesday on a proposal to regulate short-term rentals for the first time.

Selectmen and the Planning Board are holding a joint hearing at 6 p.m. at Wells Public Library to discuss a proposed new ordinance.

Mike Livingston, the town planner and engineer, said the concept is not new.

“The Board of Selectmen’s been working on this for years,” he said. 

It began during the coronavirus pandemic, when Gov. Janet Mills temporarily restricted lodging operators, including hotels and short-term rental owners) from booking with out-of-state guests.

At the time, Livingston said, town officials had no idea how to find short-term rental owners or even identify them. 

“That’s where the conversation started,” he said.

Today, the pandemic may be over, but officials still want to see short-term rentals regulated. The new ordinance sets rules such as the number of parking spaces allowed and adds a short-term rental overlay district to the town’s zoning maps. 

The ordinance, Livingston said, has very few regulations right now, but serves as a platform for future rules, such as licensing.

Right now, Livingston said, there are no regulations at all. That means short-term rental owners don’t have to register or report their properties to any town listings, which means officials don’t even know for sure how many short-term rental properties there are in town.

“That’s one of the reasons for the ordinance,” he said. 

Like most coastal communities in southern Maine, Wells has been known for decades as a vacation destination, but Livingston said it’s likely that in recent years, online services such as Airbnb have led to even more property owners renting their properties out. 

At an Aug. 4 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, at least one resident voiced his displeasure at the trend. A man who identified himself as Chuck Roberts said he didn’t like the property across the street from his Royal Heights home, which is used as an Airbnb.

“I’ve got three or four different strangers there in one week sometimes. It’s ridiculous,” he said. “We didn’t sign up for that when we bought the house.”

At the meeting, the board voted to set up the joint meeting and public hearing happening on Sept. 1. The board will ultimately decide whether to put the proposed ordinance on the November ballot, after hearing public comment.