SALEM — City council approved a new ordinance setting regulations on short-term rentals in its Feb. 3 meeting.

First discussed in a Jan. 27 meeting of the rules and ordinances committee, the ordinance will establish regulations for short-term rental units like those listed on services like Airbnb or Vrbo, and defines a short-term rental as “any room or dwelling that is rented wholly or partly for a fee for less than thirty consecutive days be persons other than the permanent occupant or owner from which the permanent occupant or owner receive monetary compensation.” It further specifies it does not matter if compensation “is paid directly by the short-term rental guest or is collected and remitted to the permanent occupant or owner by a hosting platform” and that this definition “does not include a room in any hotel or motel as defined elsewhere in the codified ordinances of the City of Salem.”

Under the new ordinance a landlord to operate a short-term rental in the city will be required to apply for a permit “to the Salem City Housing Director, or his/her designee” for each unit which “shall take effect on the day of issuance and shall expire on Dec. 31 of the year in which it is issued.” Once that permit is issued for the first time, it can be “renewed by the property owner before the end of each calendar year” rather than applying for a new permit.

The deadline to file for that annual renewal is specified as “the first Monday of November of the year in which the permit is set to expire.” The processing fee for permits is set at $72, and the ordinance specifies that “city council shall have authority to amend the fee amount from time to time to reflect the costs of administering this chapter in the city-wide fee schedule.”

Like the city’s regulations for long-term rentals the ordinance also sets a list of standards required for all short-term rental units including retaining a liability insurance policy for the property, and limiting the number of vehicles which can be parked at the unit to “the number that can be garaged on-premises plus two that may park in the attached driveway.”

It also mandates the installation of certain safety features like appropriately located and functional smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in accordance with both city and state fire and housing codes.

Initial violations of the ordinance will constitute an unclassified misdemeanor and carry a fine of “not more than” $500. For a second violation and any subsequent violations, the associated fine will increase to “no more than” $1,000.

The city council will meet next at 7 p.m. on Feb. 17.