LENOX — With peak season for tourism approaching, Town Hall leaders are urging short-term rental hosts to get their properties inspected, pronto.

The safety inspections are required by the state building code, updated last year, and also by a town bylaw requiring annual registrations, updated and adopted by special town meeting voters last November.

The laws apply to homes, rooms and apartments typically rented online through Airbnb, VRBO and other platforms for 31 consecutive days or less.

There are anywhere from 170 to 200 short-term rental listings at any given time in Lenox.

Lenox Land Use Director and Town Planner Eammon Coughlin explains the state building code's requirements for most short-term rental properties during a meeting last October.

Short-term property owners who live elsewhere are required to schedule inspections annually, said Land Use Director and Town Planner Eammon Coughlin. Owners who are full-time residents of the rental properties need inspections only every five years.

The local general bylaw, under routine review by the state Attorney General’s Office as required by all new town bylaws, also includes the new annual registration procedure.

After state approval of the bylaw, hosts can register online using the town’s upcoming Deckard Rentalscape software platform.

The pending bylaw also requires on-site fire extinguisher and posted contact information for the property owner or manager.

“Completing the inspection now will simplify the registration process,” according to an announcement from Town Hall.

Under the bylaw, failure to comply can result in fines of $100 for the first violation, $200 for a second and $300 for a third; a permit suspension also is possible.

Registration applications will be available from Town Clerk Paul Mattingly at Town Hall (6 Walker St., 413-637-5500) or by email at [email protected]

To schedule inspections, property owners can go to online permitting at the town of Lenox website at townoflenox.com/1226/Online-Permitting to create an account and apply for a “Certificate of Inspection.”

Property owners can also visit the shared Building Inspections Department office at Lee Town Hall (32 Main St.) and use the department's computer workstation.

Once the application is submitted, the hosts can contact the Building Inspections Dept. office ([email protected] or 413-243-5518) to schedule an inspection.  The inspection fee is $150.

A separate zoning bylaw for short-term rentals approved in 2019 also has these requirements:

• ADUs may not be used as short-term rentals.

• Overnight parking must be off-street.

• No events with tents or amplified music.

• Up to two bedrooms in a dwelling unit may be rented year-round by-right provided that owner or tenant is in the dwelling unit at the time of rental.

• An entire dwelling unit may be rented up to 75 calendar days per year.

• A special permit may be granted by the ZBA to allow rentals for an additional 35 calendar days (maximum 110 days) per year.