Lewisboro Town Board agrees to some regulation of short-term rentals

By NEAL RENTZ

The Lewisboro Town Board continued its months-long discussions of potential legislation to regulate short-term residential rentals at its July 27 work session.  

The board recently conducted a public hearing on the issue and people were divided on whether there should be regulations.

At Monday’s meeting Supervisor Tony Gonçalves said the board discussed the topic at its June work session.

“As a board, we agree that we do not want to ban short-term rentals,” he said. “I think we’re all in agreement there needs to be some regulation.”

Councilman Richard Sklarin responded, “maybe. Not a yes or a no, maybe.”

He drafted potential regulations, which could be a starting point for the discussion.

Permitting process

Councilwoman Julia Hadlock said the town should have a short-term rental permitting process, and regulations for how permits are issued.

“I feel there are forces and arguments in either direction,” Councilman Dan Welsh said, adding there should be regulations. 

“I believe there should be some sort of registration process,” Councilwoman Mary Shah said. “I’m open for the best of what may be on the table. I want our citizens and communities to be safe, our environment to be protected, and to retain the spirit of our community.”

Gonçalves agreed there should be some sort of regulation.

“It could be as simple as starting off with the registry,” he said. “So then there’s a spectrum from here to there. We have to figure out where is that happy medium that’s going to take into consideration all the feedback, or the majority of the feedback, that we have received.” 

Restrictions reviewed

Gonçalves said Hadlock, Welsh, and Planning Board Chair Janet Andersen, who is also president of the Three Lakes Council, prepared for the Town Board a document on a proposal to limit the number and distribution of short-term residential rentals, which was reviewed by the Town Board.  The document states that 

there should be some limits on short-term rentals, Welsh said. It also states there are benefits and downsides to short-term rentals. The rentals are useful because there are few hotels in the area, but there needs to be regulations, Welsh said. 

One potential goal of regulation could be to make sure there are not an excessive amount of short-term rental properties in a particular area of town, Welsh said.

“I think we’re trying to balance the impact this might have on different zoning districts and different geographic regions within the town,” Hadlock said. 

Same treatment for all

Welsh said he wanted a uniform code that would not treat areas within the town differently.

Gonçalves said once draft legislation is completed, it will be referred to the Planning Board for its comments.

Another proposal from Welsh, Hadlock and Andersen is for the Town Board to consider setting a cap as a percentage of total homes in each zoning district for short-term rentals, which would contribute “to overall community stability, while the minimum separation prevents clustering that the total limit does not capture.” 

The cap being proposed would mean no more than 3% of housing units within 1-acre, half-acre or quarter-acre zones could be used for short-term rentals. 

Limit number of rentals per owner?

In addition, Welsh, Hadlock and Andersen are proposing to limit the number of short-term units to two for a given owner.

Separation of units

Welsh, Hadlock and Andersen are also proposing that the minimum distance between short-term rental properties be 500 feet.

Hadlock said there could be a provision in the legislation to allow some properties to operate without a permit, such as  those on a state highway or of a certain size as determined by the Town Board.

Hadlock said the idea is to limit rentals by 30 days or less and there is no intention of limiting how many investment properties a person could own in town or the number of long-term rentals a property owner would be permitted. 

On the issue of limiting the number of short-term rentals per person to two, Sklarin said, “I’m not sure we can do that.” 

Town Attorney Greg Folchetti said the town could determine how many short-term rental permits a property owner could obtain. 

In North Salem a property owner is limited to one short-term rental permit, Gonçalves noted.

Sklarin has five-point plan

Sklarin said he wrote a document based on what was said by Town Board members and residents at previous meetings, issues faced by Building Inspector Kevin Kelly regarding the rentals and based on his years of experience as a former Planning Board member. 

“It’s a starting point,” he said. 

Sklarin said the Town Board should consider an initial two-year registration or license for short-term rentals for a $1,500 fee contingent on proof of an insurance policy for a site being used for short-term rentals, no outstanding violations for the property, and a promise by the property owner to comply with town code. If there are no town code violations the property owner could get a three-year approval after two years, he said. 

The second part of the document states that when applicable, the property owner would have to provide proof that the site has a functioning septic system, based on state code, Sklarin said. 

The third part of the document calls for no off-site parking for short-term renters without prior registration and permission in the lake communities, Sklarin said. 

The fourth provision of the document calls for an online registry “where everything is grouped together,” Sklarin said.

The fifth provision of the document is a density restriction of one short-term rental property per 500 feet of another short-term rental property, Sklarin said. 

Welsh said Sklarin could “lay out the fundamentals” and turn out a document based on board members’ comments at this week’s meeting. 

“This is a working draft,” Sklarin said. 

“If we get our fundamental principals on some key issues” then it would not be difficult to create a final document, Welsh said.

Sklarin said the document would include the recommendations from the Housing Committee that was provided for the original legislation.