A few people sent questions in about the proposed law to limit and regulate short-term rentals, such as the ones advertised via airbnb.com. New Paltz Mayor Tim Rogers and village trustees addressed them at their meeting last week by further explaining the text of the law and the intent behind it, but they also agreed to leave the hearing open to give more people the opportunity to weigh in.
The proposed law would limit full-time short-term rental properties to commercial districts. Properties in residential zones can be rented in whole or in part, but only if the building is the primary residence; the resident must furnish proof that they live in the house for at least nine months out of the year. These conditions are separate from the rules about renting property generally, with the distinction being that this new law would be focused on renting to “transient” guests who are paying for less than 30 consecutive nights. Those transient guests must be renting all or part of that primary residence, and can’t be setting up tents or living in a camper or garage, for example. Similar to other rental laws, the property must be registered with the village and inspected annually by a building inspector. There must also be emergency contact information prominently posted by the door.
Deputy mayor KT Tobin explained that short-term rentals inflate rents in an area, and trustee Alex Wojcik referenced research showing that landlords in some areas have considered those higher rates to be an incentive to perform self-help evictions of lower-paying long-term tenants. Trustee William Wheeler Murray focused on the safety aspect, recalling that a short-term guest in an Esopus home died during a fire because the exits were not clearly marked. Short-term rentals also tend to amplify issues like the current housing shortage in Ulster County and the lack of a cohesive community spirit from which volunteerism tends to rise.
The main thrust of the law is to prevent “absentee investors” in the village’s residential areas, said Rogers.
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