One town at a time, short-term rental operators are becoming personae non gratae in the Hudson Valley.
Coxsackie, a village in Greene County, passed a three-month moratorium on new short-term rentals, the Times Union reported. Enacted Wednesday night, the moratorium applies to Airbnbs, Vrbos and more.
Anyone already operating a short-term rental will be able to continue it. Variances may also be permitted for those seeking to open a rental under specific circumstances, subject to review by the village board.
The pause carries an option to be extended twice, each time for another three months. In the interim, the village will study the possibility of further regulating short-term rentals within its borders.
Read more
Residential
Tri-State
For Airbnbs, Albany is still the Wild West
Politics
Tri-State
Airbnb cool to proposed short-term rental registry across NY
Commercial
New York
How illegal Airbnbs slip through the cracks
Some regulations already exist. Owners are required to register their short-term rentals with the village and pay a fee. That measure was imposed after a rental was plagued by underage drinking and police calls, according to the mayor.
There are 24 short-term rentals operating in the village and 41 in the surrounding town, according to AirDNA. The village has a population of fewer than 3,000. Several hotels operate in the area.
The number of short-term rentals in the village and town combined has more than doubled since two years ago, where there were only 28. Supporters say the rentals provided much-needed revenue for some homeowners and bring tourism revenue to towns that don’t have many other industries.
Other Hudson Valley communities have enacted moratoriums on short-term rental, then passed regulations on the industry. In Hudson, a moratorium preceded the institution of a 4 percent lodging tax. In Woodstock, a permitting process was put in place to cap rental volume.
In the state capital, Albany is eyeing short-term rental regulations for the first time. One council member is working on legislation that would force operators to register properties as short-term rentals and pay a fee.
At the state level, a lawmaker recently introduced a bill to help municipalities track, regulate and tax short-term rentals via a statewide registry.
In New York City, meanwhile, Local Law 18 created a short-term rental registry to cut down on illegal rentals, which for years have largely avoided the grasp of law enforcement.
— Holden Walter-Warner