Pithy Comment Generates Critique of Vacation Rentals

A humorous, pithy, and generally sarcastic comment posted to the Mirror generated another strain of commentary that further exposed the disdain locals have for the direction the town is taking. Real estate investment in the form of short-term vacation rentals is seen by many as a vile and destructive force, changing a once charming town into a hot mess of teeming hordes of humanity. Below is the original post by Thomy:

CITIZEN COMMENT: Short-Term Rental Resolution – Town Council will pass a resolution that fully supports Short-term rentals in Cape Charles, it however reserves the right to manage any such activity as it sees fit.

There is a need to increase rentals to increase tax revenue and business profit

There have been rumors circulating that certain people would like the permanent residents of Cape Charles to move out of town and rent their homes for 3 months each summer. Some people consider these homeowners as a nuisance and selfish for not adding summer people’s revenue to the economy. If they don’t volunteer for this program, ordinances might have to be enacted to motivate the selfish among us. To counter this, a citizens committee SFE (stop forced evacuation) has been formed.

There have been rumors circulating that certain people would like permanent residents to not use their cars in Cape Charles for three months in the summer. It is felt that they are interfering with the summer people’s golf cart fun. Stickers will be placed in a conspicuous place on their cars and will be ticketed if seen driving on Cape Charles streets May through August.

Here are the following comments that take a closer, realistic view of what is happening to Cape Charles:

Cape Charles is moving towards being for tourists like Cape May. Tourists are buying homes for high prices and are never actually here. I heard one tourist bragging one day about how he was going to outbid someone for a high amount and steal the property away from them. Then when locals go to trick or treat, most homes are vacant during the off-season months and it feels like a ghost town. My kids who are raised on the shore get yelled at by tourist adults while playing soccer in the park during concerts or walking around town. My friends have been forced to move out of Cape Charles (people who are from here) because they can’t afford rent or to buy. When we went to Hawaii, the locals were very angry that the rich tourists have basically done the same thing to them. The one tour guide said he’s been on Maui his whole life and is homeless at times because he can’t afford to live there. We need to look out for the people in our community. That should be first priority.

More commentary:

It’s sad what people are letting happen to that town. Selling out just like Ocean City, MD did. All in the name of the mighty tourist dollar. Who are the people that are responsible for letting this happen? How do these elected people continue to hold power to make these poor decisions?

What accountability can be used to ensure they don’t hold a position to continue this madness in the future?

At what point do the locals say enough is enough? When will the tipping point be reached? Eventually if the town keeps going down this path there will be no more people to stand up against the wrongs that are being done and all the potential future poor decisions being made for the town and it’s “people”.

So it goes…