Regulations require permits, inspections
After five public hearings, the Putnam Valley Town Board on Nov. 15 approved short-term-rental regulations that include a permit system and mandatory annual safety inspections.
After a three-month grace period that ends in February, residents or companies that want to offer short-term rentals booked through sites such as Airbnb must obtain a special permit from the Planning Board and pay a $500 fee per unit, along with $500 in escrow and $100 annually for inspections.
The regulations limit rentals to single-family homes and require a local manager who lives within 30 miles of Town Hall. The annual fire and safety inspections, conducted by the Building Department, will include any owner-occupied units.
Permits will be valid for three years. No owner can have more than three at any time (one owner-occupied and two non-owner-occupied). When an owner applies for a permit, the town will notify every neighbor within 200 feet of the property.
Yet another useless and unnecessary law for the town of Putnam Valley, passed by a town board that is more interested in accumulating money and power than actually doing things that benefit the taxpayers.
I hate to be so cynical, but I have watched for years as so many of our laws related to our lakes, dumping, pollution, etc. have been selectively enforced such that they end up being useless at best.
The current law seems based on the assumption that all the problems in Put Valley are caused by Airbnb guests or other transients who wreak havoc on our town during their brief sojourn.
These alleged problems include making loud noise and partying till all hours, dumping garbage and trash, using the lake district beaches and parking lots, as well as causing well and septic issues.
What the board failed to acknowledge is that every one of these behaviors that the law is supposed to correct is already illegal under the current codes and is currently handled by either the Sheriff or the code enforcement officer.
The fact that the town board decided to double down on existing statutes was nothing more than pandering to a vocal constituency and shows their complete disregard for our Constitutional property rights.
One other point that was brought up during the hearings exemplifies just how ridiculous this law is. A short term rental is defined as 30 days or less, meaning that if a landlord rents their premises for 31 days or more, the law doesn’t apply. See how that works?
And the beat goes on………