To all Portsmouth, New Hampshire Airbnb owners - we recently received a cease and desist letter from the code office. We have met them in person along with the Planning Dept. They are claiming we are not in a business zone and need to get a variance. They are saying that anyone with less than 30 day rentals are a "business" and need that variance. It is clear from our conversations with the city that they have no idea what to do with these short-term rentals and are trying to figure it out while shutting us down. We are going to apply for a variance and fight this with an attorney, which means attending a public hearing. We need your help because the ruling made for our property is going to impact you all. If we are somehow succesful with our variance, we were told there would be restrictions placed on us that could include a max number of days to rent and other safety regulations.
The only reason this came to light is a property owner next to us who does yearly rentals, called the city and made false claims against us. Now we're shut down but he can continue to rent his property for investment income. Just like we were trying to do.
Any help is appreciated.
