The long promised Short Term Rentals Law for the Town of Wawarsing was finally unveiled at the June 6 meeting of the Town Board.

This has been in the works for a year or so, and the result is a nine-and-a-half page amendment to the Town Code, section 112-29.

As the law notes, there has been an increase in tourism and visitors in the past several years that has started to reverse the long decline that saw the Borscht Belt hotels and bungalow colonies go bust. But while visitors are welcomed, there remains a shortage of traditional lodging, like hotels, and so Airbnb, VRBO, and other online firms offer viable alternatives for short visits.

One concern for any town in Ulster County is that too many short-term rentals (STRs) could cut into the already limited housing stock. A secondary concern is that non-residential investors could buy up properties in the county and convert them to STRs, again with a detrimental effect on the housing market.

Early discussions about the need for a town law on STRs led to a public hearing in January 2024, and the gathering of information. It was determined that that there were or had been 165 STRs in Wawarsing that were listed online. Of those however only 55 were registered with the county and paying the county tax, which was raised in January this year from 2% to 4%.

At another public hearing, views from residents made clear that those who had invested in operating STRs were concerned that regulations might make that business difficult.

The public hearings on the law continued while the law was being drawn up, mostly by Mary Lou Christiana, the attorney for the Town Planning Board, as well as for other towns and boards in the county. Few people have as much knowledge of this set of issues as Christiana.

The Meat of the Law

The new law is set out in accordance with Article 16 of the Town Law of the State of New York. That gives the town the necessary authority. Also in the frame is Municipal Home Rule Law, Article 2, Section 10. From that authority the town allows the Code Enforcement Officer to issue permits to property owners to have STRs on their property.

For zoning purposes an STR use will be an accessory use to residential single family and two-family dwelling units. For the rather limited number of multi-family residences in the town, there will be a limit such that only 50% of those units can be used as STRs. They will also require a valid permit. Permits will only be given for properties with a residence.

Addressing an issue of considerable concern is Section H, part 2, which requires a partnership or a limited liability company to disclose the names of all partners when applying for permits. Any changes in partnerships will have to be provided to the Code Enforcement Officer within 30 days of the change, and a resident of the property must have at least 50% ownership in the LLC or general partnership.

To go with that rule, is part 3, which establishes that no “owner entity” may have permits for more than 2 properties at any given time: One owner-occupied STR and one non-owner occupied STR, in other words.

Owners of properties already operating STRs will have the option of being “grandfathered” in to permitting. They will have 90 days from the date this law goes into effect to apply for a valid permit. They shall be allowed to operate until that permit is issued or is denied by the Code Enforcement Officer. Grandfathered STRs will be allowed to operate subject to biennial application renewals as well as fire and safety inspections. A new owner of such a property must apply immediately to be granted a new STR permit.

This can only be a brief review of the law, hitting on some of the contentious points. Anyone interested in operating an STR in the Town of Wawarsing is advised to read the entire law, which will be posted on the town website, see Town Code, Section 112-29.

One final issue to look at is the potential Cap on Permits. This cap may be applied by Resolution of the Town Board every year, on or before September 1, 2025. The object is to limit the number of STRs in the town to a percentage established by the town board. However, grandfathered STR units and owner-occupied units will not be restricted by the cap.

Board members took away copies of the proposed law for review. Discussion will resume at the next board meeting on June 20, 2024.