Owners of vacation rentals object to Riverhead’s proposed rental restrictions

Several residents spoke at a public hearing Tuesday in opposition to the Town of Riverhead’s proposed law that would restrict rentals to a minimum of 30 days, arguing that the legislation casts too wide a net that would hit renters and local businesses where it hurts.

“A great many of these people coming to our North Fork, where a majority of the wineries are located, many of the people come for the weekend,” said Northville resident Simon Kahn, who said he does not rent. “Without the ability to procure short-term rentals, many of these people will simply not come. That will have a far-reaching economic impact on many of the services that have steadily grown in these hard economic times.”

Andrew Barrett and Joe Stella, both of Aquebogue, echoed Kahn’s concern. Barrett said there are 300 short-term rentals on the North Fork and at least 75 in the town of Riverhead. Each said they have rented to small groups for years, without any notable problems or complaints from neighbors.

Complaints are what brought about the proposed legislation, according to town officials. It’s aimed at preventing transient tenants who may not treat their property’s neighbors or the surrounding community with respect, Supervisor Sean Walter said.

Walter and Councilman John Dunleavy cited noise complaints and concern over younger groups partying as the impetus behind the board’s action.

Aquebogue resident and NYC attorney Ron Hariri met with the town board in July to complain about a vacation rental home near own that he said was being used as a “rooming house,” accommodating multiple groups of individuals for one-night stays.

The situation presents a noise and security issue and is a burden to neighbors and the town in general, Hariri told board members.

“This is a plague on our town,” Hariri said.

Other complaints surfaced two years ago, which former town investigator Kevin Macabbee brought to the board, seeking direction.

Maccabbee told the board in August 2011 he believed it was illegal under current code to rent a single-family house out for less than 30 days. The short-term rentals — numbering about 50 that he knew of in the Town of Riverhead — did not have rental permits, he noted.

The town board at the time balked at attempting to ban the short-term rentals.

“Allowing people to do this helps people pay their mortgages and taxes,” Walter said at the time. He said he thought the town should make provision for this practice in its code, and begin issuing permits for the use.

Board members in 2011 discussed ways the town might legalize and regulate short-term rentals — and tax them as commercial properties to support increased levels of municipal services, such as garbage disposal, but that action wasn’t taken.

Last night, the supervisor said he hadn’t thought the issue was significant until he considered whether he would want such a rental next door to his house.

“I know I wouldn’t want this next door to my house,” Walter said.

Amy Csorny, of Wading River, said weekend tenants often leave garbage cans at the curb days before the town’s pickup date as they return to their lives on Sundays. The cans attract animals that tip them and leave the street littered with trash. She reiterated the point that short-term rentals bring visitors who aren’t invested in the community enough to care for it.

“There’s something to be lost when they go,” she said. “They take and they go.”

Walter said the rentals present further problems because they are homes in residential areas being used for commercial purposes, without triggering commercial taxes.
“You’re a hotel,” he told Barrett. “Shouldn’t you be paying commercial taxes?”

Stella, who said he wouldn’t have been able to buy his house without the money he made renting to vacationers, proposed a fair tax rate rather than a 30-day restriction. He also said people visiting the North Fork are not the rowdy party crowd that produces the problems the board expressed concern over.

Dunleavy countered that the time requirement would allow for tenants who were more invested in the community, and who would have to answer to police for any transgressions committed earlier in their stay. He said the law would place responsibility on local homeowners rather than the out-of-towners who can simply leave and avoid fines by not returning.

Walter said the proposed legislation was lifted from the Town of Southampton’s code, Southampton having dealt with similar problems in the past.

But resident Bruce Gebhardt, who said he has rental permits and has been renting for short-term stays for 25 years, questioned the board’s understanding of rental-related problems entirely. This is not Southampton, he said.

“Nobody is coming here to party,” he said. “I think you got the wrong idea what this is about.”

Photo caption: “Jamesport chateau” listed for rent on the Vacation Rentals By Owner website offered for $1,000 per night.