Newport City Council votes to ban party bikes, some short-term rentals

NEWPORT, R.I. (WPRI) — It looks like get together bikes won’t be rolling down the streets of Newport whenever soon.

The Newport Town Council voted unanimously in opposition to allowing for the use of quadricycle passenger autos Wednesday night.

The final decision will come soon just after the R.I. Property passed legislation that would permit the use of social gathering bikes statewide, but only with the community’s approval.

Councilors cited traffic considerations and injuries liability as factors to prohibit the celebration bikes on town streets.

Even though she voted to ban the party bikes, Councilor Jamie Bova wants mentioned she desires to see if there are other solutions.

“I’d like to see … if there’s extra information or doable sites that a auto like this can be utilised in a good manner,” Bova reported.

The metropolis council also voted in opposition to limited-phrase rentals, which have been a issue of rivalry for months.

Town Solicitor Chris Behan informed 12 Information that Newport has been dealing with issues relevant to limited-time period rentals due to the fact the rise of on line platforms like Airbnb, which have led to an maximize in vacationers renting full qualities in its place of unique rooms.

Renters, according to Behan, can disturb neighbors by leading to confined parking, generating sound, not thoroughly disposing of trash, or producing commotion in places in which there ought to be no professional action. It also depletes the housing inventory for people who want to reside in Newport, he observed.

Anne Foley tells 12 News she fell in adore with Newport following she rented an Airbnb, but now as a resident she sees how the absence of oversight can let predicaments to get out of regulate.

“They get super rowdy and there’s not a great deal of accountability, for the reason that the homeowners of the Airbnb’s are not in city,” Foley explained.

Some others argued that for some, short-expression rentals place foods on the table.

“It’s not a 2nd work,” Meg Nelson claimed. “It’s not just more getaway revenue, this is my livelihood. If it’s taken absent from me, I’m going to be in trouble.”

The town council precisely voted to ban brief-term rentals for 29 days or much less in residential places and need permits for “guest house” rentals in the city’s Minimal Small business District.

All those permits would make it possible for householders to lease up to two rooms with no far more than 4 tenants, but only if they reside there complete-time and can oversee the visitors keeping on their property.