but the reality is that
people who come and stay in Chestnut Hill
do it because
they don't need a car
and it's easy for them from my property
to move everywhere
can you tell the board how this property is managed i personally manage the property i am
screen every guest i personally uh talk to them in either either platform where they booked
um as specific questions to make sure that they understand our rules and they are going to behave
according to what we're expecting from them.
We have zero tolerance with parties.
We don't accept pets.
We have quiet hours.
We have a minimum stay of three nights.
The average will be 10 to 13 nights.
What I do is that I open the calendar later in the year
for the bookings to come in and as we get closer is when I allow the three nights minimum. We have
cameras outside the property and all that is specified in each of our listings.
Can you tell the board how trash is handled? Sure, so every unit has two bins, one for trash,
one for recycle
so four of those bins
two for each unit are on one side
of the building and
two of them are on the other
side of the building
trash come on Friday
with my cleaner is there she will pull the trash out
sometimes we have been going there
just to take the trash out
one of the neighbors
have offering when he realized
that we were coming over
just to take the trash out he said don't bother
I can pull the trash out for you
do not worry we even offer to maybe give them something but they they just do it as a good
face helping us out if uh if they see that the trash has to be taken out and because we do have
people that come for several nights if they happen to be there that night of the week we ask them to
please take the trash out and then bring it back and do multiple properties next to yours including
including yours, keep their trash in the same location?
So I would say yes, because there is an easement between my property and the four units next
So there has been times where through that easement you have our two trash cans or one
trash can and one recycle.
They want for the four unit building and they want for the back commercial building also
gets in the same spot in Arlie Street. If you drive there Friday afternoon, sometimes you will see
a lot of trash cans, but it's the product of the three buildings.
Okay. Have you spoken to any of your neighbors about the use of your property before you filed
the zoning application? And what feedback did you receive?
uh yes yes uh all all the neighbors at least all the all the neighbors uh that surround the
the property the the people next door they have uh short-term rental as well so we have a good
relationship with them we talk about the business and many times they have called me to uh to ask
for for advice uh uh the the people in the back the tenants in the back um he uh he knows that
we do a short-term rental i he has my phone number we always say if there is any issue to call us back
josh to the other side also he knows that he has been inside my units and um i i think at the
beginning they were very impressed that this was a short-term rental that that we put a lot of
quality in there. The last neighbor we met is the neighbor
It's the neighbor across the street, Jennifer.
across the street, Jennifer. She moved to the street
She moves to the street later.
Is this the property you're talking about?
And I'm pointing to the screen at 201, Benazette.
Yes, and you can see it in the picture below.
Yeah, so you can see that it's a garage.
To be honest, I don't know who owns the garage.
I haven't had any contact with that.
I was talking about the house next door.
That's the last neighbor we talked to.
um september i believe last year and did she have any issues what did she tell you
no no um we met her on the street um and we say hey veronica mark we own this property we we do
want to come and see and she said yes we show her two of the units we couldn't show that there
one because the unit was occupied and um and she said i wasn't aware that this was a short-term
rental. Can I ask a question? Is this the woman that moved the council? She moved. She said the
woman moved away, right? She didn't move away. I think she moved in there. Correct, Veronica?
Yes. No, she's still there. Yes. She moved there. She did submit a letter to the chair.
Yes, she should meet a letter. To be honest, I was very surprised because
when we had the opportunity to meet her in person that she came and see my units,
her comments were positive like wow this is great this is beautiful she even say now I know when my
family come and visit a place that is so close that they can they can stay and so yes I have met
all the neighbors and they have been at least in one of my units at one point yes okay thank you
and if you were unable to operate the property as short-term rental would you be able to maintain
this property? I don't think we'll be able to cover the expenses of this property and the
mortgage with long-term rentals. We gave it a try when we started. It didn't work out.
Okay. Just another question that I have for you. Are you familiar with any dogs being on this
property? When we bought the property, we acquired the property with two tenants. One of the tenants
had a Rottweiler and a Boxer. It was complicated for us because we now, as a new landlord, have to
acquire a new insurance that covered that. When we learned so much about that, that we said, no,
there is no way we can do that. Also, the kids that come to the Institute, they have high allergies,
a lot of sensitivity. So I cannot offer a product to that family and then being concerned that there
are dogs in the house. So we have cameras and I check them constantly. No, I have never been aware
of a dog besides that very first tenant in that property. Okay. I have no further questions at
this time you're at mr chair questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair we have a couple of hands uh christopher jacobson has been allowed to speak
hi hi could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Yes, my name is Christopher Jacobson, K-R-I-S-T-O-F-F-E-R, Jacobson, J-A-C-O-B-S-O-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I am in the community. I am not a near neighbor. No, I am about two blocks away.
Sure, please.
i'm in opposition to the variance i am here as a member of the community i'm not an immediate
neighbor i live a few blocks away but i pass the property every day i'm familiar with it it's a part
of my neighborhood and in my 30 years here by the way i've never considered it a blighted property
my opposition stems from the fact that this short-term visitor accommodation is non-owner
occupied. In my experience, this kind of business destabilizes a neighborhood. Some years ago,
the house next to mine became for a year and a half a non-owner occupied short-term visitor
accommodation. It disrupted my life. The main disruption was that I no longer knew who was
allowed on the property. That meant I no longer knew how to respond to what happened on the
property. For example, twice I was woken up in the middle of the night by someone trying to get in
by someone trying to get in through a window next door. Both times, it turned out a visitor
through a window next door. Both times, it turned out a visitor had lost his
had lost his key and couldn't get one from the absent owner. But in that moment, I had no idea
if I was witnessing a burglary. This, to me, is the core problem with a non-owner-occupied short-term
visitor accommodation in a residential area. No matter how nice the property is, or how well
maintained, or how good the guests are, or how convenient the business might be for visitors,
all things we've heard about, the problem of not knowing who belongs does not go away.
The mere existence non-owner-occupied short-term visitor accommodation in a residential neighborhood
like mine is therefore destabilizing, because it is a source of constant uncertainty,
not just for the immediate neighbors, but for the neighbors at large. This uncertainty is typical
in a business district, not a residential one. One should note, other forms of visitor
accommodation like hotels at least have staff on the premises, as does, I believe, the rental
property that was discussed next door to 7918. My property is surrounded by rental units. I've
lived here for 30 years. I have no issue with rentals, but if this variance is granted, the
owners of other properties, like the one surrounding me, may seek similar permission. If that were to
occur, my neighborhood would be changed for the worse. I believe 7918, if it is to be rented,
should be rented in a rental consistent with RSA 3 zoning, as it was in the past. Such rentals are
desperately needed. I am surprised, quite, to hear for the first time that they tried to rent this
because rentals here are scarce and desired.
I do not believe that the applicants have shown a compelling reason
why renting in this matter is not possible,
nor do I think that they have shown that this particular business
on this particular property is a benefit to anyone other than themselves.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to call.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
Yes, Chair.
We have a Jennifer Eusen.
they have been allowed to speak. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Jennifer Houston, J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R-Y-U-S-I-N. You swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth is nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Are you a neighbor? Yes, I live
directly across the street at 201 Bendisit Street. My property was just mentioned. Please proceed.
My wife, Beth Belukas, and I live directly across the street.
We oppose the variance.
In my email to the ZBA, I submitted a letter detailing our reasons for our opposition,
as well as a petition signed by more than 50 near neighbors opposing the variance.
That petition includes the signatures of every adjacent neighbor and was obtained after a
lot of conversation and full information about what was implied by this variance.
As residents who live directly across the street, we experience the following issues on a regular basis.
Excessive noise, trash on our property, parking issues, loitering on our entry steps, blocking access to our home,
taxi, Lyft, Uber drivers driving at high speeds the wrong way,
and are blocking the regular flow of traffic on our quiet one-way residential street.
We still do not know how to be in contact with the owners who live off-site and manage a number of other rental units in a way that helps resolve issues when help is needed and not hours or days later.
Because the owners do not live on the premises, they cannot give immediate attention to the issues we, the neighbors, experience regularly.
this problem is amplified by the high turnover in each of the three non-owner occupied short-term
visitor accommodations in this property the high turnover rates leads to large numbers of people
whom we do not know in any given week in the year because of that we do not feel safe to approach
people whom we don't know with neighborly issues such as excessive noise and are forced to call
and city resources like the police to help with our problems that are otherwise easily remedied
among neighbors. When we know our neighbors, we feel safe to participate in our community
and resolve issues that may arise among us. I want to emphasize that a serious effect of
non-owner-occupied short-term visitor accommodations is the generalized erosion of safety and community.
Safety and community go together. You can't have one without the other. When the feeling of safety
is continuously degraded by the high turnover of people and non-owner occupied accommodations as
it has been by this property. We are increasingly compelled to keep our blinds closed, not to say
We are increasingly compelled to keep our blinds closed, not to say hi to others on the street, and avoid helping others when problems emerge.
high to others on the street.
In other words, because of increasing feelings of unsafety, we are increasingly compelled to live in a more isolated and isolating ways.
We chose to buy our home in Chestnut Hill on a quiet residential street precisely because we wanted to live in a safe, quiet community in which we can actively participate.
All of this significantly impacts our own right to the enjoyment of our residential property
and is degrading the general sense of community in our neighborhood.
Another serious effect is that this non-owner-occupied short-term visitor accommodation takes three
long-term rental units off the market.
Numerous studies have shown that by removing the supply of long-term housing, this type
of visitor accommodation drives up rental prices, adding to the overall affordable housing
crisis.
The limited lodging laws were in place prior to the purchase of this property. When asked about
the necessity of the variance during community meetings, both the applicant and applicant's
lawyers avoided answering this question. For these reasons, we oppose the variance. Thank you very
much. Thank you. I have a couple questions for Ms. Youson. Ms. Youson, are you saying that you
don't have the phone numbers for Mark or Veronica? I have one phone number, but we have not been made
aware of how to be in contact to resolve issues immediately. And we were never told that we could
contact them with issues. They only contacted us when this variance was under issue and
when the Chesson Hill Community Association asked them to reach out to us. And we still
did not know how to be in contact to resolve issues. So are you saying that you hadn't spoken
with my clients prior to the zoning application?
I'm not sure the nature of your question.
Can you restate your question, please?
Did you speak with Veronica or Mark prior to the zoning application being filed?
And do you know that an owner-occupied property that has a limited lodging license,
do you know that that owner could go away for up to 30 days
and rent out their unit or home for that entire time
and not be available and be out of the country.
Are you familiar with that?
I have learned some aspects of this law, yes, but yes.
And do you have a permit for the fence on your property?