WOODSTOCK — The Woodstock Planning Commission will hold a special meeting Monday night to discuss proposed changes to the town’s short-term rental policies.

The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at Town Hall and also be streamed on Zoom via townofwoodstock.org.

During the meeting, the Planning Commission will discuss moving the town’s short-term rental policies, including the permit process, from the town’s zoning bylaws to a separate proposed municipal ordinance. They will also discuss defining the term “bed and breakfast” to specify that they must have between two and nine units, provide breakfast in a common area and have a caretaker, who lives on the property. 

The meeting is part of a larger discussion town officials are having about a new short-term rental ordinance that would restrict the number of such rentals that are allowed to operate in town. That proposal calls for allowing 55 owner-occupied short-term rentals and 55 non-owner-occupied short-term rentals.

The cap would exclude people who have operated short-term rentals that are “legal pre-exisiting nonconforming uses” in two zoning districts – R5 and Forest Reserve – which did not previously need a permit. While those owners would still have to go through the registration and regulation process, they would not be part of the 110-unit cap.