Home News Local News Residents, business owners hire lawyer as town crafts code on short-term rentals

Residents, business owners hire lawyer as town crafts code on short-term rentals

Photo caption: “Jamesport chateau” listed for rent on the Vacation Rentals By Owner website offered for $1,000 per night.

A group of Southold Town residents who want their voices heard as the town proceeds to craft code concerning short-term rentals has new legal representation.

Short-term rentals have become a hot topic in town as a proliferation of North Fork homes for rent have popped up on websites such as airbnb.com and Vacation Rentals by Owner, with many residents expressing concerns on how short-term visitors will impact their quality of life.

Cutchogue attorney Abigail Field said she is representing some home owners who might like to rent their properties for part of the year, as well as some bed-and-breakfast owners.

Field said it’s important to note that while some are fearful that the short-term rentals might deplete an already insufficient year-round rental housing stock, most of the vacation rentals offered online are not properties that would be offered as year-round rentals, and if they were, would not be available at the affordable end of the market. The properties offered for short-term rentals, she said, are, for the most part, high end, with amenities such as beaches, docks, and pools. “They are not starter house types of properties, as a general rule,” Field said. “Could there be any that would otherwise be affordable rentals? Perhaps, but those few are not typical of the properties involved.”

Many of those homes posted online for short-term rentals, Field said, are owned by residents seeking the income to help them to afford their homes and who “love Southold Town for what it is, and are either here year-round or want to eventually be here year round.”

Key, Field said, is “Smart regulation that would prevent these rentals from becoming too large a percentage of the overall housing stock.”

Her clients sought representation after the first draft of the town code proposed a minimum 30-day rental period that “would prevent homeowners from doing what they are doing and which has been shown not to work elsewhere,” Field said.

Riverhead, for example, has a code that requires renters to come in and apply for a permit; the 30-day rental code allows for not less than 29 days.

Last year, during a public hearing in Riverhead on the issue, several residents argued that the legislation casts too wide a net that would hit renters and local businesses where it hurts.

“A great many of these people coming to our North Fork, where a majority of the wineries are located, many of the people come for the weekend,” said Northville resident Simon Kahn, who said he does not rent. “Without the ability to procure short-term rentals, many of these people will simply not come. That will have a far-reaching economic impact on many of the services that have steadily grown in these hard economic times.”

Riverhead Town Attorney Robert Kozakiewicz said since the legislation was adopted, there are still properties being advertised for short-term rental on VRBO. “It’s tough to catch these people,” he said.

To that end, Riverhead Town authorized a number of code enforcement actions on weekends and cited some owners, he said; some cases are still in court.

“The enforcement issue is tough,” he said. Kozakiewicz said the counter argument is that neighbors are upset that owners are running commercial businesses and should pay more taxes due to “greater demands on the community.”

In Southampton, rental permit law requires that a rental permit be obtained prior to renting a property.  The permit is issued only after an inspection by the town’s code enforcement officers – third party inspections are not permitted. The minimum allowable rental period is two weeks.

Meanwhile, in East Hampton, Alex Walter, executive assistant to East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell, said, currently, town code allows for two, less-than-two week rentals in a six-month period. Online rentals offered by sites such as airbnb.com, he said, could “violate” that code, if owners are renting more than twice in six months. Walter said the town prosecuted one case this year and was successful. “Enforcement is a problem,” he said.

Field said short-term rentals can mean a boon for the local economy, with guests frequenting residents and shops. Owners of rental homes, she said, want tenants who will be good neighbors and want their homes cared for, as they live in them for part of the year.

Of the short term rentals, Field said, “Regulations have to be smart and enforced.” She added that factors such as economic viability for owners must be balanced with limiting the ability of short-term rentals to consume too much of the town’s rental housing stock. “Keeping it in scale,” she said, is key.

In addition, Field said, transparency in enforcement is key so residents can see that “the rules are not only being enforced, but enforced in a uniform and fair way.”

Ideally, the residents represented by Field would like to see a three day minimum for short-term rentals, allowing for long weekends. “We think a three day minimum is reasonable,” she said. “The vacation rental owners I represent are responsible owners invested in the community who would like to find a way to continue to do what they are doing. Nobody supports being bad neighbors.”

Recently, short-term rentals proliferating on websites such as airbnb.com and Vacation Rentals by Owner, or VRBO, were the hot topic at a breakfast hosted by the North Fork Chamber of Commerce.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell was the guest speaker at the breakfast, which was held at the Six Three One Diner in Southold; he kicked off the discussion by mentioning the rapidly growing issue with short term rentals.

Seeking solutions, Russell said one idea that’s been bandied about was possibly crafting legislation that would allow for no less than a two-week rental.

But, Russell said, some have said that the business community benefited from having short-term renters who visit local restaurants and businesses and bolster the local economy; before any decisions are made, Russell said he’d like the business community to weigh in.

The supervisor said, though, that the issue needs to be addressed, with residents calling his office often to raise concerns about guests coming to their communities for one or three nights. “People find it unsettling. They like to know who their neighbors are.” Even in his own neighborhood, Russell said a short-term rental exists, and, while there have been no problems, there are still safety concerns with numerous cars on streets where children are playing. “These are issues we have to wrestle with,” the supervisor said. “This is a huge, growing industry. We know we have to do something.”

Short-term rentals, he said, differ from B & Bs, which must be owner occupied and go before the zoning board of appeals for approvals. Bed and breakfasts, he said, are subject to review; the impacts of a short-term rental in a residential community, however, are not currently weighed for intensity of use.

While some of those renting their homes online, Russell said, are good neighbors, others abuse the situation, sleeping 10 in a two-bedroom and allowing multiple cars, with no owner ever present on-site.

Hotel and B &B owners also have to pay an occupancy tax, said various business owners at the event. Residents renting their homes on a short-term basis are often paid in cash and have to pay no occupancy tax. The Suffolk County tax is meant to be used to advertise the county’s hospitality industry, some business owners said, but those privately renting out their homes are paying no tax and “piggy backing off those” who are paying.

Katie Sepenoski, of Heron Suites, said the year-round business struggled to get back on its feet after Sandy and also, is sometimes not seen, despite being on the Main Road. Occupancy tax is not the only expense, she said; commercial property taxes must also be paid and rooms are not always full in the lean months.

Both Russell and Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski, who attended the meeting, said they felt the occupancy tax was an unfair burden on East End business owners, with the benefits of the tax “heavily weighted” to businesses to the west. Krupski said the North Fork was not  getting a fair percentage of the proceeds.

Andy Binkowski, manager at the Cross Sound Ferry asked about enforcement, and asked if the town board were considering any means of enforcement, once legislation and boundaries are crafted.

Currently, Russell said, “The enforcement issue is spotty at best.” But he added that down the line, one possibility being explored would be to hire a director of code enforcement to work with the building department and town attorney’s office.

Russell said another school of thought has centered on siting short term rentals in resort residential zones; if the properties are not located in that zone, they would not be allowed.

Chris Dowling, owner of One Love Beach in Greeport — he also sits on the Greenport planning board — said some short-term rentals could be considered commercial properties.

Greenport Village Trustee Julia Robins, who also attended the breakfast, said another issue posed by short-term rentals is that some are buying homes solely to utilize for that purpose, depleting an already sparse year-round housing stock in the village.

Some at the meeting said they have used short-term rentals in other communities and states and found that there were rules to be followed and renters carefully vetted.

Russell said the community needed to get together on the issue and present their suggestions to the board. With other towns such as Southampton and East Hampton also struggling with the issue, Russell said a “template” needed to be created on how to move forward. “We need a single voice,” he said.

Tom Scalia, president of the North Fork Chamber of Commerce, said he’d gather input from all the business owners and present the findings to the town board.

 

 

 

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