CAPE CHARLES, Va. — Short-term rental owners in Cape Charles can now register, renew licenses and pay required fees through a new online portal launched by the town, officials announced.
The customer-facing portal allows existing and new short-term rental (STR) owners to complete required transactions digitally, streamlining a process that previously required paper forms or in-person submissions.
There are currently 314 Licensed Short-Term Rental properties in Cape Charles, including Bay Creek. 260 are registered in the Historic District.
In addition to the customer portal, the town has made a public-facing portal available that allows residents and visitors to view a map of all licensed short-term rentals within Cape Charles. The public portal also includes links and resources for reporting or communicating STR-related issues to town staff. Those resources include a list of useful contacts, such as the Town of Cape Charles STR Inspector at 757-331-3259, Ext. 42; a 24-hour complaint hotline at 757-982-0014; and a complaint email address at Inspector@capecharles.org. The portal also provides links to a complaint submission form, the town’s website, and non-emergency public safety contacts, including the Cape Charles Police Department’s non-emergency line at 757-331-3096 and police dispatch at 757-678-0458.
Note: During the discussion at this week’s Town Council Meeting, an essential flaw in the software design was discovered — the portal has no way to determine or break out how, what, where, or when the $4.00 rental fee is being remitted to the Town via agencies such as Vrbo or Airbnb. The zoning administrator told Town Council that she would approach the developers to have this aspect of the software reworked. How much additional tax dollars will be required to add this feature was not discussed.
Town officials said the new tools are intended to improve transparency, simplify compliance for property owners and provide clearer information for the community as Cape Charles continues to manage the impacts of short-term rentals.
Additional updates and guidance will be posted on the town’s Short Term Rental page, officials said.
About the Author
Am not at all an expert on these things but; this sounds like the streamlining of a substancial Cash Cow…
..by the way I keep seeing the phrase ” will Improve transparency” in many Cape Charles references.
For some weird reason that always cracks me up.
Why is the ‘town’ managing properties for silly folks ‘short-term-renting’ their private property, to get others to pay their mortgages?
How is the town managing properties? What is the purpose of the single quotation marks?
Figure it out for yourself. I have little to no interest in helping you with your reading comprehension or owe you an explanation for single, double or triple quotation marks. Try reading the first sentence of the article. Then think of how property in a resort town is managed. Then think about if the town is helping. You are not real bright, are you?
I’m so sorry you are ‘angry’ Charles. Your lack of ability to cope ‘with’ life is sad ‘indeed’. God bless you and ‘your’ continued push towards a greater ‘understanding’ of communication. Be well ‘friend’.
what is with the single quotations? all you do is troll, never offering anything of value. #worthless
I do as I please, say what I want, and use punctuation any way I choose. I have no interest in being politically correct, as I do not intend to run for any political office. If you never thought about success, would you ever think about failure? So why not stop thinking about either? Worthless? It makes no difference what you think of me, for I do not live my life to please you. So run along and find yourself something else to do. This is not working for you.
Oh yeah, trolls live under bridges and eat children. You are not right, are you? I bet you rode the ”’short-bus”’ to school.