After a public outcry last night on both sides of the short-term rental controversy, Southold’s code committee met today to discuss an alternative that could go into effect by the coming summer season.
The board is weighing whether or not short-term rentals less than seven days or less than 14 days should be banned; the public will have to weigh in at a hearing before any final decisions are made.
At the meeting, Assistant Town Attorney Stephen Kiely discussed a draft of a new definition that could be added to the town’s zoning chapter.
Kiely said the issue has been discussed for approximately six to eight months, beginning with a year-round rental law, then scaled down to a short-term law that would require a permitting process and would allow for fines.
The third, and most recent manifestation, Kiely said, “is quick and dirty legislation” that would just add a section on transient uses to the prohibited use section of the town’s zoning code.
The added text would define the meaning of a transient rental property as “a dwelling unit which is occupied for habitation as a residence by person, other than the owner or a family member of the owner, and for which rent is received by the owner, directly or indirectly, in exchange for such residential occupation for a period of an as-yet-to be determined number of nights.”
While Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said he was looking toward 14 nights, as was Councilman Bill Ruland and Councilman James Dinizio — Dinizio initially said he’d like to ban transient rentals of less than 30 days — Councilwoman Jill Doherty said she thought short term rentals of under seven days should be nixed, a more realistic number, with some families unable to afford staying for two weeks. Allowing homeowners to rent their spaces for a week seemed fair, she said.
Under the new definition, transient rentals would have to be a dwelling unit lawfully and validly permitted as an accessory apartment in Southold; properties used exclusively for non-residential commercial purposes in any zoning district; any legally operating commercial hotel/motel business or B & B operating exclusively and catering to transient clientele; or a dwelling unit located on Fisher’s Island, due to the unique characteristics of the island and the lack of formal lodging for guests.
Keily said “presumptions” can be used to determine if a dwelling unit is being used as a transient rental.
Those presumptions include whether the unit is offered on a short-term rental website, such as airbnb.com, Home Away, and VRBO.
The presumptions, Keily said, are rebuttable with evidence that the unit is not used for transient rentals.
First, Kiely said, the town has to “make a baseline determination” of what type of short-term rental it will permit, as well as choose the minimum number of nights, or the time period, a potential guest can stay legally.
Councilman Jim Dinizio said his main concern was non-owner occupied rentals. “The person responsible for the house just isn’t there,” he said. “All of our codes, including the code for B&Bs, are contingent on the fact that an owner has to live with what he creates. In this case, it’s not happening,” he said.
No matter what regulations are adopted, the board agreed enforcement is critical. Currently, the town has only one code enforcement officer. In Southampton, Kiely said, the town has code enforcement under the helm of the town attorney — a move the Southold Town board is weighing — and fines collected help to finance the enhanced code enforcement efforts.
Cutchogue attorney Abigail Field said private homeowners supported the idea of fines as a revenue stream that could upgrade the town’s code enforcement effort. Last night, Field said if weekend short-term rentals were banned, the economy would suffer, as, according to her informal survey, most short-term renters come for weekends.
If served a notice of violation, the homeowner would have five to 10 days to fix the situation, Kiely said. “If the behavior doesn’t change, the homeowner would be issued an appearance ticket” but the individual could still “lawyer up” and the case could be tied up for months with adjournments. The “quickest and fastest way is to go to the Supreme Court and get an injunction to shut the house down,” he said. “Presumptions give you the gateway into the court quicker,” rather than having to send a code enforcement officer to sit outside a house at night and on weekends, he said.
The presumption, Kiely said, would be that any home listed on airbnb or other short-term site for less than the number of days allowed by the town would be in violation, allowing a code enforcer to pinpoint the offenders easily.
No matter what number of days the board and public decide upon, “If we can’t enforce it, there’s no reason to have it,” Dinizio said.
Russell added that in most instances, the public was not calling because of “rogue” homes with loud music or bad behavior but instead, it’s the “unsettled feeling of turnover” residents experience due the constantly changing faces and cars in homes nearby.
Southold, Kiely said, is a tourist community, so the solution has to balance the rights of property owners nervous about the “degradation” of their community with the boon to the local economy that short-term rentals can provide.
The Internal Revenue service has stated that if a house is rented for less than seven nights, it’s considered a business, he said.
Councilwoman Jill Doherty said while more work needs to be done, she’d like to see the current draft “on the books” so that some regulation can commence.
“It’s a baby step,” Kiely said, adding that the board should put it out to the public and decide how many nights were reasonable.
“The number is the most critical component at this point,” Russell agreed.
Chris Baez said he believed the board “has overlooked the bigger picture, what this means to our local economy.” Short term renters, he said, frequent area restaurants and shops. “We need to recognize that we are a tourism destination and we have been, for generations.”
While Kiely agreed that “historically, Southold is a tourist area, airbnb is throwing gasoline on a fire.”
He asked for town assistance in creating a townwide “snapshot” of where the short-term rentals are located.
Dinizio said on his block, there’s a three-to-five bedroom house with up to 10 cars outside.
Kiely reiterated that if the current alternative does not address the problem, a short-term rental law or year round rental law could be created.
“It all comes down to balancing the needs of the community with the economy. What is the right balance?” asked Southold’s zoning board of appeals chair Leslie Weisman.
Decisions can’t be made on the impact to the economy, Russell said. “There are economic benefits but we can’t let them trump everything else,” he said.
The committee agreed that no matter what time frame is implemented, there will be some looking to scheme and get around the new rules. But, Kiely said, “There are some good people doing reasonable things.”
Doherty said making the definition of a transient rental anything under 30 days would punish those people who are trying to do the right thing.
Two week rentals have existed in town for years, Russell reminded, and no incidents have been reported.
With enforcement key, Kiely said the town should look to hire two part-time code enforcement officers.
Russell asked Kiely to reach out to Justice Louisa Evans and Councilman Bob Ghosio, who were not at the meeting, to ask what number of days they supported. Next, the town board will discuss the issue at its next work session in two weeks, with a public hearing noticed for 30 days after that.
When the new regulations are adopted, Russell said an effective date of July 1 could be suggested; the board still has to decide what to do about those renters who have already paid for their summer rentals. Some could be grandfathered, the board suggested.
