NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - North Salem is taking the temperature of residents on one particularly heated subject – short-term vacation rentals.
Concerned with finding a balance between tourism and local quality of life, town officials are looking for a way to handle the situation without creating civil strife and, as importantly, without inviting lawsuits.
There are already quite a few private properties in North Salem that are being hawked on platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO.
According to Planning Board Chair Cynthia Curtis, who outlined the draft legislation at the Town Board’s Aug. 12 public hearing on proposed STR regulations, they’re considered to be illegal since the local zoning code doesn’t currently allow them.
They will not be “grandfathered” and will have to apply for permits if the proposed local law passes.
Close to a dozen residents participated in the hearing, which was left open until September in order to give more folks the chance to chime in either in person or in writing.
The Planning Board went over all the comments and suggestions made at that hearing at its Wednesday, Aug. 20, meeting. It will continue the discussion about whether to change anything at its Sept. 3 meeting before sending a response to the Town Board.
“We have more homework to do,” Curtis said afterwards.
Tasked with protecting its residents’ health, safety, and welfare, the town – realistically -- only has a couple of options.
It can either allow things to go on as they have or it can designate specific zones where STRs would be either allowed, prohibited, or subject to certain conditions.
Since an outright ban doesn’t appear to be enforceable -- or even desirable considering the negative impact it could have on responsible homeowners merely seeking to supplement their incomes – the town is choosing to go the restrictions route.
“We know they’re happening in town. They shouldn’t be,” Curtis noted at the hearing, adding that without regulations, it’s very difficult to track STR activity.
A permit process will give the town’s building inspector “the necessary tools” to enforce things, she said.
Asked for an opinion on the draft law, Westchester County Planning Board’s Chairman Bernard Thombs wrote that he found “it to be a matter for local determination in accordance with the town’s planning and zoning policies.”
“Basically, it had no negative critique of the plan as submitted to them,” Deputy Supervisor Peter Kamenstein said.
Purdys resident Maureen Eckman wrote the board to say that she opposed allowing STRs in the hamlet, explaining that “the equation of owner-occupied homes to rental units can be a very precarious balance.”
Speaking in person, Route 22 resident John Nouri suggested prohibiting LLCs -- or individuals whose primary business is investing in multiple properties -- from operating STRs.
That wasn’t in the cards.
“We can regulate the nature of the use, but not the nature of the individual,” responded Councilman Martin Aronchick.
Nouri favored cutting the amount of days folks are allowed for STRs from 90 days a year to 60 and stiffer fines for code violations. He asked for a traffic study, but Kamenstein dismissed that as “premature.”
Purdys resident Matt Weintraub asked if STR hosts would be required to keep a record of their clients’ proper identifications – rather than just a “guest book” -- just in case something untoward occurs.
Curtis thought that that would be something owners would want for their own protection anyway.
She noted that the town’s keeping things as tight as it can without “overstepping” its bounds.
Town attorney Lisa Colosi Florio pointed out that the county itself wants STRs to provide it with registries but wasn’t sure if that meant keeping a record of guests’ driver’s licenses or other forms of ID.
Telling the board that she’d once lived in a place with lots of STRs, Peach Lake resident Barbara Gerlach saw “no advantage to the town in this, zero.”
Bringing in strangers with no “vested interest” in the community is, she said, not only “dangerous” but would strain local emergency services.
“This isn’t a town that’s set up for this; there’s not even a pharmacy here,” said Gerlach.
Purdys resident Kathy Collins asked the board why it can’t simply ban STRs like Stony Point, Orangeburg, and Clarkstown in Rockland County have.
Councilman Brent Golisano remarked that “this is all up for debate and discussion.”
However, based on the legal advice the town’s received, a ban could get it sued.
“We don’t want to go down that path,” Aronchick said.
Neither can towns legally exclude certain neighborhoods.
“You can’t have a townwide ordinance and not apply it equally to all areas in the zones allowed,” Kamenstein explained.
Florio assured Collins that the permitting process will allow properties to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Having owned a home in Florida, Collins said she's seen communities "ripped apart by short-term rentals."
In a letter to the Town Board, Collins had written that she failed “to see how allowing STRs serves the greater good of North Salem.”
“What little the town may gain in tax revenue or tourism is dwarfed by the long-term erosion of neighborhood character, rising public costs, and the loss of community cohesion,” she added.
Paraic Sweeney, a resident of Wheeler Road who lives near an STR on Bogtown Road, claimed that property had been listed on Airbnb “almost immediately after it was sold.”
According to Sweeny, it advertises a bedroom that “is actually in the living room,” keeps outdoor lighting on all night, is “part of a commercial venture that list four properties in the group, two in New York and two in Florida,” and has a listing agent who lives in Boca Raton.
Sweeney listed the goals of the regulations as "preserving the character of the town, allowing residents to supplement their income, ensuring sufficient affordable housing in the community, and NOT enabling principal or expanded commercial uses.”
He thought the draft was “missing some elements that could better accomplish those objectives.”
For instance, there’s “no limits” to the number of short-term rentals that would be allowed in the town, there’s “no requirement to have onsite management,” no mechanism for the owner “to document how they’re conforming to the 90-day limit,” and the penalties for code violations are “very low compared to the revenue potential as listed on Airbnb,” Sweeney said.
Jessica Broomhead, a real estate agent who said that she and her husband host an STRs in a legal accessory apartment at their Bloomer Road property, also had concerns.
Her Instagram touts it as “Your North Salem home away from home,” and points out that it’s “nestled perfectly between Pehquenakonck Country Club golf course, Peach Lake, and horse stables” and just minutes away from Hayfields Market and La Bastide.
Broomhead was worried about the requirement that folks must have owned their properties for at least two years before they can apply for an STR permit.
(The idea is to head off at the pass individuals or entities who snap up properties with the sole intent of making money.)
Broomhead has lived in North Salem for over five years, but has, at this point, only had the Bloomer Road house for about two.
Pre-existing STRs would not be grandfathered and would have to apply for a permit.
However, in cases where the unit is already a legal ADU, the town might be “able to waive the two-year requirement,” Curtis said.
Ninety-five percent of her guests are people who are visiting family in the area and who want a place to stay that’s clean, quiet, and less expensive than a conventional hotel or motel, Broomhead said.
Her “margins” are extremely small and she saves money by doing things like cleaning the unit herself.
“Ninety days is nothing. It’s gone in a flash,” Broomhead said.
While it might be “easy” for some to see STR owners as “evil and horrible and letting the neighborhoods go by the wayside,” it’s “possible to do this in the right way … with a clean and clear permit process,” Broomhead opined.
Kamenstein responded that that’s the law’s objective, to get folks “to respect their neighbors, and do it within the culture of the town.”
A member of North Salem’s Housing Board, Broomhead insisted that she’s “clearly very invested” in the town’s welfare.
Zoning Board member Nzingha Milanes felt STR rules should apply equally to everybody and all areas of town. “No carve-outs,” she declared.
Ashley Yozzo, owner of Summit Farm on Bloomer Road, said she had “no idea” that the Broomheads had an Airbnb.
She hadn't heard any “complaints” and thinks STRs are “a good thing.”
Lifelong Westchester resident Sue LaColla and her husband had moved from Bedford to North Salem and bought a home on Lakeview Road.
Then, unexpectedly, he was relocated to Nashville for his job and she lost hers.
After a year of unsuccessful hunting for employment, LaColla was forced to rent out the house.
She asserted that they’ve never had any problems with the neighbors or with guests.
Most are up here for wedding, funerals, or some “quiet relaxation,” said LaColla. “No one’s coming to North Salem to party; they’re going to the Hamptons for that.”
“I’m not a corporation. I don’t do this for the love of it. I wish I didn’t have to, but it supplements my income. This is how we can afford to hold onto our dream home until my husband retires,” she said.
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