fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

County deems Gardiner’s proposed STR law too vague, too lenient

by Frances Marion Platt
September 23, 2021
in Politics & Government
0
Donna Smith to replace Jewell Turner as Gardiner’s deputy town clerk

Ever since the onset of COVID, refugees from pandemic conditions in New York City have been flooding into the mid-Hudson, driving up housing costs by buying up residential properties, either to live in themselves or to rent out to fellow Big Apple expats. Ulster County towns have been forced to develop coping strategies for the overheated market as residents protest that they can no longer afford to live in their own hometowns. One of the municipalities most strongly affected is the Town of Gardiner.

For more than two years now, the Gardiner Town Board has been struggling to draft legislation that would regulate short-term rental (STR) housing in the township, only to encounter vociferous opposition to whatever updated version it submits for scrutiny. Like Goldilocks in the cottage of the Three Bears, supervisor Marybeth Majestic and the rest of the board members have found themselves wrestling with proposals that keep turning out to be “too hot” or “too cold,” in search of the version that is “just right.”

At the public hearing on the most recent iteration of Gardiner’s proposed Short-Term Rental Law, held at the September 14 board meeting, the usual arguments against regulation were made by the usual opponents – largely members of the ad hoc advocacy organization known as the Short-Term Renters’ Association of Gardiner (STRAG). Some of the previous opposition appeared to be cooling down, in response to the board’s attempts to defuse some of the more controversial provisions in earlier proposed versions of the law. A provision prohibiting operation of a STR that is not the owner’s primary residence had been removed, effectively permitting rental of more than one unit per owner, at the insistence of residents who claim that they can only afford to keep their houses in Gardiner if they are able to live elsewhere for part of the year and use the rental income to pay their taxes.

The most concerning provision in the latest version, for many STR proprietors who attended the hearing either virtually or in person, was the proposed annual limit of 100 licenses awarded. Town Board members arrived at this figure based on the number of STRs registered with Ulster County in 2019; councilman David Dukler called the 100 cap as “a reflection of what’s here now.” But it is widely believed that many STRs are being operated under the table, their owners seeking to avoid paying a County tax on the income from these properties. Supervisor Majestic didn’t evince much sympathy for those STR owners who brought up the likelihood of underreporting to the County, saying, “The opportunity [to register your property] has been there – shame on you.”

Several STR operators, especially newcomers, expressed anxiety about the perceived arbitrariness of the 100-license limit and wondered aloud what would become of rental income of the 101st applicant for a license in a given year. “Not having a number is also arbitrary,” councilman Franco Carucci responded.

Other residents questioned how efficiently the applications could be processed by the town clerk’s staff. Some worried that people opposed to STRs might buy up as many of the licenses as possible and just sit on them, echoing STRAG’s attorney, Brandon McKenzie, who had raised the specter of a “run on licenses” with “no fail-safes.” STRAG president Todd Baker called the cap “unnecessary,” asking, “Why can’t we just do registration and inspection?”

All these quibbles aside, the “cooler” redrafting of the law seemed to be edging closer to a version that would satisfy most residents reasonably well – until the Ulster County Planning Board (UCPB) weighed in. That regulatory agency had strongly favored a “hotter” early version of the law, even going so far as to hail it as “a model statute to other County communities seeking to enact their short-term rental laws.” At the meeting, a clearly exasperated Supervisor Majestic read aloud a recent letter from the UCPB summarizing its review of the newer proposed law and recommending the adoption of the more stringent earlier draft, which it called “well-crafted.”

These recommendations are not legally binding, and Gardiner could still overrule the County by a supermajority vote. But in order to tighten up language in the newer version that the UCPB had flagged as overly vague, particularly regarding enforcement provisions, the Town Board would have had to decide immediately on the revisions, due to time constraints on the posting of legal notices for continuation of the public hearing at the October meeting. Worn out by the lengthy discussion, the board was not prepared to decide instantly, and ended up voting to close the public hearing. A new one will need to be scheduled once yet another “final” draft has been adopted.

Majestic agreed to distribute a redlined version of the proposed law to the board, addressing the latest concerns of residents expressed at the hearing as well as the specific objections raised by UCPB. With the Town Board shifting its primary focus onto the 2022 town budget in October, it now appears unlikely that the STR law will be adopted before the year’s end.

Tags: members
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Frances Marion Platt

Frances Marion Platt has been a feature writer (and copyeditor) for Ulster Publishing since 1994, under both her own name and the nom de plume Zhemyna Jurate. Her reporting beats include Gardiner and Rosendale, the arts and a bit of local history. In 2011 she took up Syd M’s mantle as film reviewer for Alm@nac Weekly, and she hopes to return to doing more of that as HV1 recovers from the shock of COVID-19. A Queens native, Platt moved to New Paltz in 1971 to earn a BA in English and minor in Linguistics at SUNY. Her first writing/editing gig was with the Ulster County Artist magazine. In the 1980s she was assistant editor of The Independent Film and Video Monthly for five years, attended Heartwood Owner/Builder School, designed and built a timberframe house in Gardiner. Her son Evan Pallor was born in 1995. Alternating with her journalism career, she spent many years doing development work – mainly grantwriting – for a variety of not-for-profit organizations, including six years at Scenic Hudson. She currently lives in Kingston.

Related Posts

The Hurley primary
Politics & Government

The Hurley primary

June 4, 2025
Words aplenty fly in Woodstock primary
Politics & Government

Words aplenty fly in Woodstock primary

June 4, 2025
Kingston Common Council has second thoughts
Politics & Government

Kingston Common Council has second thoughts

June 3, 2025
Stony Run deal passes, not everyone is celebrating
Politics & Government

Stony Run is treading a rocky road

June 4, 2025
Final results announced in four close primary races
Politics & Government

A preview of the four county legislative primaries and three Kingston alderman races

June 6, 2025
Gotto, Rogers in Democratic primary contest for New Paltz town supervisor
Politics & Government

Gotto, Rogers in Democratic primary contest for New Paltz town supervisor

June 2, 2025
Next Post
Local school districts face big budgetary headaches this year

Onteora’s COVID-19 testing regimen being set up

Weather

Kingston, NY
63°
Light Rain
5:18 am8:31 pm EDT
Feels like: 63°F
Wind: 3mph SW
Humidity: 93%
Pressure: 29.92"Hg
UV index: 2
TueWedThu
77°F / 55°F
82°F / 64°F
86°F / 59°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

×
We've expanded coverage and need your support. Subscribe now for unlimited access -- free article(s) remain for the month.
View Subscription Offers Sign In
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing