By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — It is not that difficult to find short-term rentals that are available in the Casco area. After all, those businesses advertise with companies like Airbnb^®, Vrbo^® and Expedia^®.

Locating the short-term rentals that are in operation in the Town of Casco just got easier. Thanks to software developed by an employee with Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG).

The Town of Casco plans to use the software to launch an awareness campaign about the Short-Term Rental Ordinance, which residents here adopted about a year ago.

The ordinance might come as surprise to some people.

“There are legitimately going to be people who own property here and who have no idea we have an ordinance,” Casco Chairman Scott Avery said.

Last week, the Casco Select Board learned about software that will be used to assist in making citizens aware of the Short-Term Rental (STR) Ordinance.

The software will be free through June 30. After July 1, it will cost the town $3,500 a year, which is “a minimal cost for that type of software,” according to Casco Town Manager Anthony Ward.

“It is based on a map that shows you where every one of these short-term rentals are,” he said.

“It scours Vrbo^® and Airbnb^®, and it will expand to Expedia^®; and it identifies where the short-term rentals are being active. At which point then, it comes up on the software and says, ‘Here is where they might be.’ Then, GPCOG actually goes into our [property] assessing database to confirm what they can — which ones aren’t complying with the STR Ordinance, and some that need attention and licensing,” Ward said.

“Right now, as of today, there are 223 unlicensed short-term rentals. Not all of those are confirmed. Right now, we have confirmed 57 violations,” he said.

“With the software, we can do quick violation notifications,”

At the end of the discussion, it was decided that the people will not be fined for the violations until after July 1. The STR property-owners will be educated about the ordinance and how to apply for a STR permit.  

“How staff and I plan to use this until July is: We can click on the property and identify the property-owner and send a letter, saying, ‘Here is our ordinance, and here is how to comply with it,’” Ward said.

Also, in these notification letters, the owners of STR properties will receive a link to the STR permit application. This specific software will allow the Town of Casco to do mass notifications to STR property-owners. Additionally, the timing will be a good opportunity to discuss the $100 a year permit fee.

“We are the fourth town to be using this data test. We are by far the lowest on the fee structure, compared to other towns,” Ward said, adding it is something for the select board to think about and discuss.

“It sounds like a really good tool,” Chairman Avery said.

Ward agreed.

“It will make controlling a challenging business a little more feasible,” he said. 

Currently, the two STR software gathers information from Vrbo^® and Airbnb^®, he said. Soon, the software will expand to include Expedia^®, he said.

“This developer wanted everyone to know it was open market where the information is obtained,” Ward said.

Select board member Grant Plummer questioned whether people knew about the new ordinance. He recalled some neighbors in Thomas Pond area complained about STR not being controlled properly, which prompted creation of the ordinance.

“Casco has been in a summer rental business plan for a long, long time. I want us to approach this the right away. This is what we are doing. This is why. A notice of violation isn’t even Step Four in the process,” Plummer said.

Chairman Avery expressed a different opinion.

“We have a short-term rental ordinance. We can’t have an ordinance, and have a free for all,” he said.