By Ashley M. Casey
Several residents of the village of Cazenovia expressed their opinions on the proposed local law governing short-term vacation rentals — often referred to as Airbnbs, after the app through which many vacationers book their stays — at the July 2 Village Board of Trustees meeting. But the village cannot yet act, as the board is waiting for Madison County to weigh in on the proposed law.
“We won’t actually be able to vote on that tonight, but as soon as we hear back from the county we’ll put that on our agenda for our next meeting,” Mayor Kurt Wheeler said at the start of the public hearing. “Either way, we’re interested in getting everybody’s opinions tonight.”
Among the proposed regulations are:
• Annual license fee of $200.
• Limit of two guests per bedroom and no more than eight total guests in a home.
• Annual inspections for property maintenance and safety.
• Maximum rental limit of 60 days.
Jay Dyer, who owns a short-term rental, asked how the board settled on 60 days as the maximum number of days a host can rent out the home.
Wheeler said the village sought information from Airbnb about the average length of stays nationwide and locally and then doubled that number. He said the village looked at other municipalities’ ordinances as well.
Dyer said the 60-day limit could be a hindrance to his business.
“Last meeting you were talking about ‘leveling the playing field’ between the hotels and the short-term rentals, and it just seems to me that that equals only one night out of every week of the year plus two months where there’s two nights,” Dyer said. “The rentals are either two or three nights. We have very few that are single-night rentals, so that would cut us off. If we had a very busy summer, then that would shut us off from the rest of the time.”
Wheeler said the village board was trying to strike a “reasonable balance” with the limit. He added that 60 days would cover an entire summer and that busy periods ebb and flow.
“If somebody was operating in a commercial zone, then that limitation doesn’t exist … but in residential neighborhoods, we did feel that a limitation was appropriate,” Wheeler said.
Jon Schneeweiss said he has been operating VRBOs (Vacation Rentals By Owner) for about three and a half years in San Diego and other communities. Schneeweiss weighed in on the 60-day limit.
“Personally, I’ve never gone over 60 days. This year, I had a 30-day rental — the guys working on the windmills,” Schneeweiss said.
Wheeler said the proposed law would not apply to long-term rentals of 30 days or more.
Schneeweiss said he was glad the village is not banning short-term rentals, but he said language in the draft law about bringing an older home to code compliance is ambiguous.
Wheeler said the building must meet fire safety standards — functional railings, no loose wires and no fire hazards, for example.
“It tends to be a common sense thing. We don’t want people staying in a building that’s unsafe,” Wheeler said.
Code Enforcement Officer Bill Carr said the building must comply with New York State Fire Code, but certain items are grandfathered in for older homes.
“It’s fire safety, it’s not structural safety,” he said.
Schneeweiss raised objections to the portion of the draft law that allows the village to revoke a short-term rental owner’s permit if law enforcement is called to the property twice.
“That’s completely unfair,” Schneeweiss said. “My next-door neighbors … can call twice just saying, ‘We don’t want him here.’”
Wheeler said two calls would be grounds for a review of the permit.
Resident Jen Lutter asked about the distinction between owner occupied and non-owner-occupied rentals.
“Other communities have had a major disruption to their housing markets because you have investors coming in and buying properties and turning them into vacation rentals,” Wheeler said. “We really are concerned about the quality of neighborhoods, so our preference is to have owner occupied ones.”
Wheeler said the vast majority of problems with short-term vacation rentals occur when the owner does not live at the home. Current non-resident owners will be grandfathered in with the hope of transitioning completely to owner occupied rentals eventually.
“What we’re trying to avoid is people buying properties as an investment and not live in the community,” Wheeler said.
Resident Candace Nestor said one of her neighbors operates a short-term rental. She said she appreciates the proposed 60-day limitation as well as the stipulation that owners must address neighbors’ complaints within 15 minutes.
“I feel like I do live in a residential neighborhood and I would like to keep it as such. I don’t want to live in a commercial neighborhood,” Nestor said.
Schneeweiss also suggested the village follow the example of the city of Palm Springs, California, which requires short-term vacation rentals to post a list of laws and community rules guests should follow. Such restrictions in Cazenovia would include no overnight parking on streets, following noise ordinances and prohibiting guests from bringing their pets.
The proposed local law is available on the village website at villageofcazenovia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CazenoviaSTRdraft-2018-06-12.pdf.
