VTDigger37%
After years of debate, Stowe caps short-term rentals 21%
By Stowe Reporter34%
8/1/2026, 4:28:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 12 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Anchoring Bias, and Appeal to Authority, with Optimism Bias as the most egregious example at 10.1% saturation with 72 hits. Analysis detected 349 faulty-reasoning hits from 716 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 30.4% and a BS Rank of 21% (20,273 of 25,564 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 79.30% of the article peer group.
This story by Patrick Bilow was first published in the Stowe Reporter on July 30.
Stowe has officially enacted regulations on certain short-term rental properties in town.
The action, taken by the town selectboard last week, activates amendments to the town’s short-term rental ordinance and ends years of debate over how to regulate those properties to potentially create more long-term housing opportunities for residents of Stowe — or whether to regulate them at all.
There have been numerous public meetings on the subject, hours of testimony from both sides of the debate, and two statutorily required public hearings leading up to the vote.
“We are very pleased to close the door on this chapter of the short-term rental ordinance journey and thank every person who participated along with (it),” Beth Gadbois, a selectboard member who ran a 2024 campaign partially focused on short-term rental regulations, said.
The ordinance as approved by the selectboard sets at 850 an aspirational cap for the number of short-term rentals allowed to operate in Stowe, but there will likely be far more than that operating for years to come, according to town officials.
There are currently about 1,450 short-term rentals in Stowe, according to town data, but roughly 600 are considered commercial or are inactive.
Subtracting those from the overall number of short-term rentals led the selectboard to its cap figure.
In addition to creating a cap, the ordinance will eventually block non-residents from getting a short-term rental license, which will limit speculative investment in Stowe’s short-term rental industry, selectboard members said.
Non-residents have until Sept. 15 to register their property with the town if they want to rent out their places on a short-term basis.
Properties registered by then will be subject to an annual renewal process.
After that date, non-resident property owners will fall into a lottery system that only kicks in once the number of short-term rentals in town falls below 850.
According to town officials, that could take years.
The ordinance mandates Stowe homestead property owners can have no more than two short-term rental licenses at any time.
Throughout the discussion about potential regulations, the selectboard has protected Stowe residents’ ability to rent out their properties.
Many of them have said that helps them raise money to combat rising property taxes and remain in town.
A fissure between residents and non-residents has emerged during the debate, with some non-residents accusing the selectboard of fostering that division.
The town proposed reaching the cap figure through attrition.
The ordinance restricts transfers of short-term rental licenses at the time of a real estate transaction, except in the case of interfamily transfers, and an annual renewal process and fee is intended to cut down on the number of inactive properties.
The ordinance also protects certain commercial properties in the ski and resort planned unit development zoning districts from short-term rental regulations, including properties at von Trapp Family Lodge and Resort and Spruce Peak.
The selectboard stated that these properties were never intended for long-term housing and would not likely contribute to Stowe’s resident housing stock.
While last week’s hearing was tame compared to public meetings about short-term rental regulations this winter, property owners at the Village Green and Mountainside Resort expressed concern about the town’s commercial delineation.
Alisa Loiselle is a 20-year second homeowner in Stowe who owned property at von Trapp Family Lodge and Spruce Peak before buying at Mountainside Resort.
“It’s exactly the way Mountainside and Village Green are designed — I mean to a T,” Loiselle said.
“We were zoned that way.
We were approved by the state that way, and we were approved by the town that way.
Now it’s kind of being ripped away.”
The ordinance does provide property owners like those in Mountainside and Village Green to make their case to the town that their property is commercial and should not be regulated.
The town manager’s office will facilitate those appeals and the selectboard will make a final determination.
“The board strives for consensus whenever possible and I’m pleased this important ordinance achieved a 5-0 vote,” Gadbois said.
“But honestly, this is only possible because our community is passionate, thoughtful and gave us incredibly constructive feedback and suggestions that we incorporated into the ordinance throughout the weeks.”
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