Supreme Court Deals Blow to Short-Term Rental Group

Editor’s note, June 11, 2025: A previous version of this story was based on a misinterpretation of the Supreme Court’s ruling. The headline and much of the original story has been rewritten.

A Vermont Supreme Court ruling last week has limited the ways in which a group of people who operate short-term rentals in Burlington can pursue their fight against city rules.

The technical order effectively means the group must pursue its legal case in environmental court, which generally deals with permitting and zoning issues. The group initially sued the City of Burlington in civil court, which the high court ruled was not the proper venue.

Liam Murphy, an attorney for the 12 plaintiffs, said his clients are taking the environmental court route. But it’s unclear whether that court has jurisdiction in the case. At issue is whether the plaintiffs, who rented their units before a city ordinance was passed in 2022, are exempt from the rules that severely limit how short-term rentals can operate.

“It could take some time to sort out this matter,” Murphy said.

The city defines short-term rentals as units that are leased for more than 14 days and fewer than 30 consecutive days in a 12-month period. Hosts who list such properties on Airbnb, Vrbo or elsewhere must live on the same lot or in the same building as the unit, with few exceptions. Violators can be punished with $100 tickets.

The 12 plaintiffs collectively own more than 16 short-term rentals, mostly in Burlington’s Old North End, a densely populated neighborhood where long-term rentals are scarce. The primary plaintiff is Sam Gardner, an Airbnb host who sued the city under his business name, 32 Intervale LLC.

The plaintiffs’ original lawsuit argued that the city had no legal right to regulate short-term rentals. They also said that their rental units should be exempt from the city’s regulations because they predated the ordinance.

The city got the first count tossed, and on the second, argued that the civil court doesn’t decide zoning matters. A judge agreed civil court wasn’t the proper venue. The case was dismissed last November.

The plaintiffs appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court, arguing that the lower court erred in throwing out their case. On June 6, the high court affirmed the civil court’s ruling.

“We are grateful for the most recent decision,” Burlington director of permitting and inspections Bill Ward said in a statement. City attorney Jessica Brown didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Murphy, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said his clients are motivated to keep fighting in environmental court, where their case had been on hold while the high court deliberated. The city has already asked a judge to dismiss the case.

If they lose in environmental court, the plaintiffs could again appeal to the Supreme Court, Murphy said. They could also ask the city for individual exemptions to the ordinance, though Murphy said he thinks the city is unlikely to grant them.

The city, meanwhile, has stopped enforcing some of its short-term rental rules while the issue plays out in court, Ward said.

Read the Vermont Supreme Court’s full decision here.