NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - North Salem folks who want to rent out their homes here and there are likely to be looking at a new set of local rules and regulations in the near future.
The town Planning Board has been tasked with coming up with recommendations for zoning code changes targeting so-called Short-Term Rentals (STRs) such as those listed on Airbnb and Vrbo.
Those will be reviewed by the Town Board, possibly tweaked, and sent back to planners for fine-tuning. A public hearing will be held by the Town Board before it adopts the new regulations.
Short-term rentals are nothing new, but the availability of online booking sites and the proliferation of local property management companies is said to have had a significant impact on residential neighborhoods both big and small in New York.
A number of towns, villages, and cities in the state -- aiming to preserve their individual characters -- have come up with ways to permit or restrict STRs.
So North Salem is not facing the challenge alone.
In December, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a state law requiring property owners (aka hosts) or managers to register STRs with county or municipality where the property is located.
Counties that create local registries will get quarterly reports from booking platforms on things such as rental locations, occupancy nights, guest counts, and taxes collected.
If those platforms process transactions for unregistered properties, they can be fined under the new law.
After creating and maintaining a registry, counties can collect sales and occupancy taxes from STRs.
(The state law defines STRs as residential properties that are rented out for 30 days or less.)
Originally, it was the state that was supposed to handle the registry, but after considering the costs involved, it punted that task to counties, leaving regulation at the local level.
The intent of the new law was not only to block illegal rentals, but also to help ease the housing crisis and level the playing field for small, independently owned hotels and motels.
(STRs have been blamed for driving up both local rents and home prices.)
Said to be the first state-wide rental registry in the country, it goes into effect on March 25.
Booking services are required to verify registrations and registration numbers. Unregistered properties must be removed from listings.
Experts say that increasing, and centralizing, booking data will provide state and local municipalities with a vast store of information on STRs, a reported $20 billion industry that can range from big properties owned by absentee holding companies to property owners, especially retirees, who are just trying to make ends meet.
It reportedly is currently capturing 15 percent of the state’s vacation rental market.
Booking platforms and business advocates vigorously fought back against the legislation.
According to media reports, Airbnb’s director of policy, Nathan Rotman, called it an “unfunded mandate” that will create a “complicated bureaucratic system” and unduly burden homeowners.
Laura Chadwick, president and CEO of the Travel Tech Association, argued that it will make travel more expensive.
It was now known at press time whether the state law would be challenged in court.
A Delicate Balance
Acknowledging tourism’s contributions to the local economy and the right of property owners to rent their spaces while protecting full-time residents and preserving a community’s character is a delicate balance.
There are already numerous STRs in North Salem.
They are, for instance, variously advertised on one booking platform as a “country escape from the city,” “luxe equestrian estate guest house,” “pet friendly lake cottage,” “rustic retreat with a hot tub,” “converted horse barn,” “horse country retreat,” and so on.
It’s Planning Board Chairperson Cynthia Curtis’ contention that these don’t meet the definition of a single-family dwelling that's currently in the town code. It would be up to the building inspector – the “ultimate decider” -- to enforce that, she said.
While some other communities that have adopted STR regulations have simply “grandfathered” pre-existing operations, that’s not the tack the town’s likely to take. Being weighed is a grace period – probably three months – for the owner of an STR to apply for a special use permit.
North Salem does allow -- and have rules for -- Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), bed and breakfasts, and groom (or employee) quarters at its local horse farms.
Of primary concern is the impact on full-time residents.
At the Planning Board’s Feb. 5 meeting, Curtis highlighted potential concerns that should be addressed while developing STR regulations.
Among the many questions to be answered is whether the owners of STRs will be required to live on the property or the premises.
The town’s planning consultant, Will Agresta, used that input to draft the preliminary legislation that was presented to the board for discussion at its Feb. 19 work session. Assigned to look into the legal nuts and bolts was the board’s attorney, Lisa Colosi Florio.
Talking points ranged from occupancy rates, limits on the number of days these units can be rented, and in which zoning districts they could be allowed, to parking, adherence to fire and safety regulations, and compliance with quality-of-life issues such as noise, exterior lighting, and signage.
“I think that -- in fairness to the people who are concerned about what’s going on in the houses next door to them -- we have a responsibility to make this NOT that easy,” said Curtis, emphasizing that STRs are money-making ventures operating in the middle of residential neighborhoods “where people expect to raise their children, get to know their neighbors, and not having to worry about transients coming and going.”
Planning Board member Christopher Brockmeyer said on Feb. 5 that he was against allowing people to purchase properties solely for investment purposes.
“That’s something we really needed to restrict,” he said. “It definitely affects neighborhoods; it’s not a good thing.”
He reiterated that stance at the subsequent work session.
A STR in the hamlet of Peach Lake was recently brought to the board’s attention after one of the neighbors complained to the town.
“It’s disruptive. It’s a concern. I get that,” Curtis said.
Doing One's Homework
Curtis is researching how similar and nearby towns have handled the situation -- for instance, Somers.
Three years ago, the neighboring town -- addressing noise, safety, and privacy concerns raised by folks living near a single-family dwelling that was being rented out -- changed its definition of “family” to: “Any number of individuals living together and doing their cooking as a single housekeeping unit on the premises, as distinguished from a group occupying a boarding room, boardinghouse, hotel or motel, or renting the premises or part thereof on a daily or transient basis.”
North Salem’s current code defines a “family” as “Any number of individuals living together and doing their cooking as a single housekeeping unit on the premises, as distinguished from a group occupying a boarding room, boardinghouse, hotel or motel.”
In Ulster County, the artsy community of Woodstock amended its zoning code to regulate STRs by requiring registration with the county (permit applicants must provide a copy of said registration), limiting the maximum number of days during a calendar year that a property can be rented on a short-term basis, restricting the per-bedroom occupancy to two guests (children under a certain age are not counted), and setting standards for parking, garbage collection, and fire/safety/building inspections.
According to Woodstock’s code, non-owner-occupied short-term rentals can only be rented out for a maximum of 180 days per calendar year, with no more than 26 weekends or parts of weekends included in that total. Weekends were defined as any time between a Friday evening and a Monday morning.
Paths to Explore
The STR issue poses a number of challenges.
First of all, the town has to decide exactly where they can be located.
Following its basic rules for bed and breakfasts and ADUs, the town could allow STRs in its five major residential districts: R1, R2, R4, R ½ and R ¼.
At present, it does not permit ADUs or bed and breakfasts in its commercial districts: NB (Neighborhood Business) and GB (General Business).
However, the board did not completely rule those out for STRs.
Also remaining under consideration are its two PO (Professional Office) districts, which are located in the hamlets of Croton Falls and Purdys.
It also needs to set limits on the number of days units can be rented out and to determine whether it’s going to require property owners to live on the premises and for how long.
Owner occupancy rules – intended to discourage folks or real estate entities from buying properties strictly for investment purposes and turning them into STRs – have faced legal challenges in other communities, Florio said.
Curtis pointed out that the town requires owners of ADUs to occupy one of the units.
While agreeing that no one to date has challenged that rule, Agresta said that it “doesn’t mean it’s not challengeable” in court.
That could potentially translate to other situations.
“It’s the same argument that STR people are making: ‘You can’t tell me where to live,’” he added.
The town also has to make it clear that such entrepreneurs can’t just arbitrarily create more sleeping areas by throwing down a futon or renting out a couch.
That’s because a single-family home’s certificate of occupancy directly links the number of bedrooms to the capacity of its septic system. Any changes require the approval of the county’s Department of Health.
To get a special use permit to operate an STR, the owner could have to submit the CO and a floor plan to the town.
The board also agreed that the permit should “run” with the owner of the property -- whether that’s an individual, an LLC, or a trust. If someone new comes in, they have to apply again.
It’s also looking at a cut-off time of 10 p.m. for noise and 11 p.m. for exterior lights that might disturb the neighbors.
Other rules to be established cover kitchen and/or cooking facilities, where guests can and cannot park (Definitely NOT on the street.), signage, and so forth.
Next Steps
The Planning Board expects to have a “final first draft” of the STR regs in hand by its March meeting.
The Town Board has the last say when it comes to zoning code changes so the plan is to present it with a "preliminary" document that includes a couple of alternatives, or items, it can weigh in on.
“We want to get some direction from them. Make them part of the thought process,” Curtis explained.
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