Tensions are mounting in the city of Ithaca over short-term rental legislation

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Dec 20, 2021

ITHACA, NY – It’s no secret that short-term rentals in and around Tompkins County have been the source of considerable debate in recent years. Airbnbs, VRBOs have thus replaced the traditional word of mouth system for weekend or weekly home rentals, often during the summer months or around graduation season.

However, the old short-term rental system was generally quite limited, beyond “friend of a friend”, occasional publication in newspapers or, for the past two decades, Craigslist. As with other “sharing economy” technology-based services like Indeed for jobs and Uber for taxis, Airbnb and its brethren have brought the short-term rental system to the masses. – for better or for worse, depending on who you ask.

Before moving on to the latest controversy over the use of property, credit where credit is due – Jessica Wickham from Tompkins Weekly has a fantastic article on the issue, which this piece can only hope to complete. Polite suggestion, read them both.

Either way, for vacationers or for those snowbirding elsewhere in retirement, this is a lucrative opportunity to rent out your home for a weekend or two without the hassle of long term commitments. . Allowing their home to host a family for graduation weekend while they briefly travel elsewhere could very well pay off a month’s mortgage.

On the flip side, there are also wealthier homeowners who buy multiple homes in more desirable neighborhoods just to rent them out on a short term basis. Not only does this take the accommodation out of the sale and long-term rental markets, but in some cases, guests make life miserable for the permanent residents living next door – they come to party, while everyone is there. to live their life.

It is this dilemma that the city of Ithaca faces as it develops its legislation on short-term rental, STR for short. Here, short-term rentals (STR) include goods rented for less than 30 days. According to Tompkins County, approximately 200 STRs operate in the city of Ithaca.

“Over the years, we have received complaints about people who have performed STRs in certain areas of the city. A few years ago, we started hearing about people buying houses in the city specifically to do STRs. We wanted to end this practice, we wanted to keep the units available for long-term residents of the city, and we wanted to put regulations in place, ”said Bill Goodman, deputy city overseer for the city of Ithaca.

As proposed, there are a number of new or expanded requirements in order to operate an STR in the city of Ithaca. DOS can only take place in accommodation which is the main residence of the host, or in an adjacent tax plot belonging to the host. STR hosts must have an operating permit for stays hosted (meaning the owner is on-site) and non-homed (this owner is absent), and the operating permit application must specify if a unit will be used for stays, whether hosted or not.

In addition, hosts should also provide sufficient driveway parking and notify the code enforcement department whenever they rent accommodation for a short-term rental stay without accommodation; and that Hosts provide Code Enforcement, tenants and adjacent properties with the name and contact information of a local person available 24/7 during the duration of an un-hosted stay, should the need arise. contacting someone is felt.

Some aspects of the new legislation are more controversial than others. For example, exceptions apply to STRs in the lakeside residential area adjacent to Cayuga Lake. STRs in this area are exempt from the primary residence rule and driveway rule, although STRs in the Lakefront residential area will still need to comply with reporting and operating permit regulations.

The biggest problem seems to be that the legislation also places limits on the number of days allowed for short-term rental, including a limit of 29 days per year for STRs not hosted outside the lakeside residential area. , with a few exceptions, and a limit of 245 days per year for DOS not housed in the residential lakeside area. There are no limits set for hosted DOSs.

The crackdown on the legislation has been fierce. The Ithaca Real Estate Board filed a petition with over 140 signatories protesting the legislation as it is written. Numerous letters denouncing the bill have been submitted to the city and local media outlets.

No one has a problem stopping out of town buyers who come here just to turn Ithaca homes into nonstop Airbnb rentals. The problem lies with those who use it to supplement their income, who feel like collateral damage in the efforts to bring the problem under control. Additionally, some have accused the city of unsavory classism in allowing rental of the lake shore, which is home to some of the county’s most expensive homes, with more relaxed restrictions.

Craig Denham and Megan Shay are retirees who have owned a home in the city since 1995, and in recent years they have spent the winter in Florida. They rent around 80 to 100 days a year, which would drastically lower the city’s 29-day cap.

“We believe that the current legislation is not an effective solution and that it will cause unnecessary hardship… Noise and nuisance ordinances already exist, so why not apply them rather than adding more onerous regulations that will be
more costly to apply than existing laws? In our case, the proposed legislation would require us to leave our Ithaca house without rental when we left, reducing the availability of accommodation in Ithaca rather than helping it. If the key issue is to stop buying homes for the sole purpose of short-term renting, then we suggest regulations that are much simpler, tighter, and cheaper to administer to deal with
that, ”Dunham said.

Goodman is sympathetic, but was not inclined to spend more time on STR legislation. “We started about four and a half years ago. We have had more opportunities for public input and public interest on this law than any other law we have made in the past fourteen years since I have been on city council.

“We were aware of the concerns, we’ve had a number of meetings, at least ten committee meetings a year for the last few years, an ad hoc committee just to deal with that. We had many members of the public attending these meetings, which is very unusual. We’ve had a number of public comment periods, a lot of comment. We had a meeting where we had probably 25 people and we actually sat around a big table, committee members and neighbors concerned about STRs, and hosts, and we worked to discuss what was going on. could work, which is unusual for developing legislation. We’ve done a lot of engagement with the public over the past 3-4 years, far more than we’ve done with any other law, Goodman said.

On the issue of the lakeside rental, Goodman acknowledged that there had been a lot of debate and even some unease with the proposal as it stands – in fact, he expected a few of his colleagues probably vote against the legislation because it was too lenient towards the lake. – rental of houses for a fixed period. However, he disagreed and believed that the proposed legislation struck a good balance.

“Personally, this is the main reason why I am in favor of a longer period (245 days). Being on the lake is a unique resource, it’s a way for people who can’t afford a second home on the lake to spend a week or two renting a house by the lake. When people talk about disparate treatment, that’s basically what zoning is, that’s basically what the city of Ithaca is. Zoning decides which areas you can do certain things in, it’s just the basis of zoning in my mind. It’s to give other people more access to the lake, ”Goodman said.

“Some people say it’s just to benefit those who are rich enough to live on the lake, but it allows some less wealthy people to have houses on the lake and rent them out part of the time, compared to to those who buy a second home and can afford to leave it blank.I see there are conflicting arguments, but I am comfortable with the disparate number of days.

The city plans to hold another public hearing on December 29 at 11 a.m., but that’s not really to entertain alternative proposals; the effective dates of the law had to be updated to reflect the slower-than-expected time frame for approval of the law. As expected, everything was going to move forward by three months. If enacted, the law will come into effect on April 1, 2022. People will need to apply for permits in order to do a short-term rental by July 1, and then any contracts in place will not count towards the original days limit. STR if in place before October 1st.

As reported in Tompkins Weekly, other county and area officials appreciate the city’s efforts. However, it is clear that there is no single regulation that will appeal to everyone, whether too lenient or too restrictive. For some people, it’s a welcome ending for absent owners. For others, the new regulations will be a huge burden.

“We’ve had so many opportunities for the public over the last few years, we knew these arguments were coming and we knew some people might not know until the very end. But the arguments they made are arguments that we have heard from the public and already considered in recent years, ”Goodman said.